Right fullback Ivan Franjic saved Brisbane Roar's blushes with a well-taken goal to equalise at 1-1 in the Hyundai A-League clash between Brisbane Roar and North Queensland Fury at Suncorp Stadium last night.
Franjic was calm and precise as he seized on a rare clear-cut chance in the 85th minute. He shot across Pasfield into the far corner of the net, canceling out the visitors' lead, which had lasted for more than an hour and a quarter of game time.
North Queensland had a game plan, which involved working very hard in defence, and keeping a shape which the Roar would find hard to break down. Fury coach Franz Straka admitted that the football his team played wasn't pretty, but praised them with a broad smile on his face for playing "tactically the best football".
It was the 9th minute of the game which set the tone. David Williams, in this game the only Fury player to trouble the Roar defence, got the ball wide on the right. He teased Mundy, and then fired in a hard low cross, in the zone between defence and goalkeeper. Gareth Edds anticipated the timing of Williams' cross better than the defence, and was on hand to turn the cross past Theoklitos. The goal was perfect in its simplicity and timing. On first glance the crowd's outrage was for the assistant's flag staying down, but replays showed Edds deserved the benefit of the doubt.
Before that point in the game, one would have said the Roar were settling in to their work, passing and probing. NQ's defensive shape looked solid, and it was clear Brisbane would have to find some magic, some spark to prise open the defence.
Possession-wise, the home team dominated both halves. But there was very little to show for the domination. Only down the right hand side, through Franjic and Barbarouses, did it look like a chance might come. Broich was well-contained, McKay and Murdocca were not penetrating the defence effectively.
So half time came and went, and Postecoglu used up his bench to make a more attacking side. Reinaldo and Jean Carlos Solorzano operated in tandem in the second half, and in the 59th minute, it seemed to most people in the stadium that the Costa Rican was onside when fed a through pass. He duly powered forward and slotted the ball past Pasfield, only to be booked for failing to heed the whistle for offside.
Only minutes before that incident, Jason Spagnuolo had missed a rolled-gold, gift-wrapped chance to put his team two up, and make things almost impossible for the Roar. But his miss kept hope alive, and McKay kept driving his troops forward, urging them on.
When the equaliser finally came, it was just reward for Franjic, who was the best-on-ground, and his team-mates, who had continued to work hard, even though several of them were below par in this game.
So that's two draws in a row for the league leaders. I suspect Postecoglu would have marked both this game and the next home fixture against Perth on his card for three points. Coaches around the A-League will be working out their strategies for coping with the Roar's tempo, energy and persistence. Franz Straka went very close to getting it right in this game.