At Lang Park on Saturday night, Queensland Roar clawed it back from Adelaide twice to get the draw, despite marquee player Craig Moore receiving a red.
Both teams are off to a strong start in Version 3 of the A-League, with both teams showing, in spite of the score line, solid defence and rather lacklustre attack. The offensive saving grace came from the midfield. The result accurately reflects the evenness of the teams although Queensland blundered away more opportunities.
Queensland preferred to play it through Tiatto or Griffin up the wings to McKay and Marcinho to create the chances. Adelaide played the counter well, with their defence staying solid throughout.
The opening exchanges were mainly end to end with a whistle in the middle. Referee Ben Williams started what would be a rather disastrous night for him with a yellow to new Roar centre-mid Marcinho. In the 3rd minute a throw in to the Queensland penalty area was contested and cleared but not far enough as it rolled perfectly for Nathan Burns whose shot threaded the defenders and beat Reddy well.
1-0 down the Roar went on the attack after yet another free kick was given in an ideal position. The cross went to Ognenovski whose header hit the post and came back for Reinaldo who in turn put it over the bar from the 6 yard line.
More chances for the Roar came from the creative midfield force of Marcinho, McKay and Murdocca, the best of which ended with a floating Murdocca shot that beat the keeper but caught the cross bar on the way down.
Adelaide counter attacks were shut down by the now well-set Roar defence with Moore and Ognenovski impenetrable in the middle and Tiatto bringing out some classic cringe two-footed tackles. It remains to be seen how many games Tiatto will play for the Roar. I suspect he will be suspended on a regular basis.
Queensland finally got the equaliser in the 44th minute when a beautiful ball was played for Marcinho who had a fantastic left foot opportunity but opted to feign towards the centre, which got the ball displaced. The ball then sat for McKay whose shot erased the memory of Marcinho's butchered attempt.
The half finished with five yellow cards and by my count at least 25 free kicks. As the second half began the Roar defence buckled directly after the break with an easy low cross and lower header by Dijite floated just wide of Reddy.
The stage was set then for a momentous come back with Moore at the head for Queensland, his experience and coolness under pressure to shine through and inspire the three points out of the young attackers. Quite the opposite occurred.
After suffering a yellow 6 minutes earlier Moore was shown a red for a two-footed tackle that, though was a little over acted by Burns, was potentially dangerous. Moore then erupted, walking over to Burns and shouting at him centimetres from his face. The Queensland captain was not happy or a picture of calm leadership.
So now down a man the Roar still needed the equaliser, and now the 16,000 strong crowd was very pumped and very tired of referee Williams. Again McKay, who had been the best player of pitch let go a cracking shot which was just tipped over by Bajic. The resulting corner went close to the line and Ognenovski got his head to firmly enough to get it past the keeper. 2-2.
The final 20 minutes, even with the now very vocal crowd, was rather dreary. Every player was walking and the 4 minutes stoppage time, which was actually closer to 7 minutes, produced no real chances.
Overall a rather dominant game for the Roar, who appear, like last year, lacking speed and real finishing up front. Matthew McKay and Marcinho will be the attacking key for Queensland this year, without them, nothing was happening.
Adelaide held strong and countered well, but they too lacked the killer blows. Even at 2-2, this game could have seen a higher score.