Melbourne Victory held its place at the head of the A-League after defeating second-placed Central Coast Mariners two-one in a sparkling and adventurous game at Docklands on Friday evening. Despite one wing of the Docklands pitch being of poor standard as a consequence of the stadium hosting of a concert involving an extravagant ground-covering set less than a week before, the action was fast and precise, giving the sizeable Melbourne attendance plenty to enthuse about.
John Hutchinson scored direct from a free-kick some 35 metres out which cleared a forest of players inside the penalty-area to bounce past Victory goalkeeper Michael Theoklitos and in at the far post to put Mariners one up just after the half-hour.
Victory drew level barely four minutes later after man-of-the-match and ex-Mariner Tom Pondeljak intercepted a loose Mariners' pass mid-pitch and played a one-two with Archie Thompson before splitting a stranded Mariners' defence to volley home past Danny Vukovic's despairing dive.
Thompson put Melbourne ahead after a solo run from the half-way line on the hour. Despite regular pressure from Central Coast, the lead was never let slip.
"(The win) was vital," said Melbourne coach Ernie Merrick after the game. "We couldn't leave our fans here with a memory similar to our (loss against) Sydney. And bearing in mind our next home game is five weeks away, it really was a six point game."
"It shows we can continually play against the second-placed team, mentally getting up for it."
"We opened up extremely well," Merrick said. "We were really on top of the game in the first half-hour (when) we had several chances and could have converted a couple. And then a nothing free-kick slid in to the back post (for the Mariners' goal). But it was great to see the boys fighting back."
"We pushed up, and I think we really dominated the second half," he said.
"We didn't hold possession as well (in the second half)," said Mariners' coach Lawrie McKinna. "They pressured us and we were obviously chasing the game after they scored (to take the lead). But we had a go."
One wing of the ground played very poorly, and was clearly suffering because of the concert at the stadium just days before. Merrick, who has declined previously to make any criticism of the ground, was forthright about his feelings on this occasion. "I was extremely disappointed at the state of the ground," he said.
"That's just unacceptable for any A-League game ? for a club as big as ours, top of the league ? to play on a surface like that."
"It's not the curator's fault, he's worked extremely hard to get it back in condition, but we're not going to be here for five weeks, you'd think they could have got their timing a bit better."
Despite this handicap, it was a bright attacking game from its very beginnings as both teams committed resources to their forward lines.
Rody Vargas, Mile Jedinak, Thompson, and Danny Allsopp all had decent chances before the first-half's midpoint. Even Theoklitos added to the shots on target tally with a booming clearance which Vukovic had to watch carefully so as not to be embarrassed seventy metres away.
Dylan Macallister however spurned the game's best opportunity after being set free by Jedinak after Mariners had won possession mid-pitch. Macallister ran onto the ball with only Theoklitos guarding the goal, getting to it nanoseconds before the Victory keeper and managing to touch it over him. The flight was right but the direction was not and it bounced just wide of the post when a goal seemed certain.
In a game where there was so much being created, it was a surprise it remained scoreless at the half-hour, but it was not to remain that way for much longer. The teams had been equally-matched in midfield which was a fully-committed battleground, but not one which exceeded the bounds of sporting behaviour. In fact, there were few free-kicks needed, but it was one resulting from Grant Brebner's foul on Adrian Caceres which brought up the game's opener.
From a distance, Hutchinson sent in his free-kick to a crowd of players running towards the penalty spot. It eluded everyone, and left Theoklitos unable to adjust as he awaited the touch everyone expected.
"I'm told by the gaffer to just try to hit the back post," said Hutchinson. "I put a ball where I was meant to put it (but) Mile didn't get his head onto it. It's just gone in - it went in to the back of the net instead."
But much to the stadium's delight, Melbourne equalised just a few minutes later with a piece of football brilliance. Pondeljak had intercepted a loose Macallister pass mid-pitch and quickly played it forward to Thompson. The Socceroo striker cleverly played it into space for the onrushing Pondeljak, wrong-footing Alex Wilkinson, allowing the slightly-built midfielder to crash it in from the edge of the penalty-area. Vukovic got a hand to the ball, but it was struck with such ferocity and direction that it was never likely to be kept out.
"They tried to play a ball out of the back a little bit square and I got onto it," said Pondeljak. "I saw Archie making a run, and flicked it over. I thought Archie was going to go on and have a shot, but he put it back over for me. I didn't have too much time to think - I just had to hit it first time."
Macalliser and McKinna both had cause for grievance when he was adjudged offside which meant his goal six minutes into the second half was disallowed. There wasn't much in it, but the replay showed that Matthew Kemp, off the action, was deeper when the ball was played forward. Their grievance was exacerbated shortly after when Victory took the lead.
"We saw the replays," said McKinna. "(It was) obviously a goal, but these decisions hopefully balance out over the season. But at that time, ten minutes into the second half, we're going well. (If it had stood) Melbourne have to come at you, then you get the chance to catch them on the break. But we never had that opportunity."
Victory took the lead five minutes later, on the hour. Thompson broke through a pressing Mariners' back-line after Billy Celeski played a quick ball forward for Thompson to run onto, pursued in vain by Bradley Porter. Thompson's left-foot shot from close-range flew past the hopelessly exposed Vukovic.
Thompson and Allsopp created good chances to put Victory further ahead, but a combination of tenacious Mariners' defending and marginally off-target final passes meant the scoreline remained unaltered, and kept the match in the balance until its conclusion.