The Melbourne Heart have got their season back on track after a 1 - 0 victory over a Gold Coast United side full of young boys, skippered by a 17 year old., Mitch Cooper This win gives the Heart 30 points and now sits them 5th on the table.
In what can be said was one of the least inspiring games of Football for the season, both sides played a style of Football which won't get the turnstiles moving, hence the small crowd of 4,972. At the end of the match, half the players all went down and collapsed with exhaustion. This was odd due to the fact the match wasn't played at any subsonic speed.
In what can only be described as possibly the worst half of Football to ever be played professionally in Australia, both sides were terrible in the first half. Two shots where on target, both to the Melbourne Heart and neither really troubled keeper Jerrad Tyson.
Once coach John van't Schip made the substitutes of Paul Reid for Jonatan Germano for tactical reasons. Germano who had zero impact on the game and was basically going through the motions. Eli Babalj came on for Alex Terra who was spectating all night and Matt Thompson for Wayne Shroj, who had his usual workman performance. Once the substitutes occurred, the Heart started moving the ball and looked a better side.
All three substitutes played a part in the match winner in the 71st minute. Kristian Rees stray pass found Reid who than crossed the ball to Fred who found Thompson on the far post. It was a lovely touch by Thompson, who centred the ball into the middle for the feet of Babalj who had the easy task of finishing into an empty goalmouth. The keeper Tyson got drawn into the cross and was left flat footed by his far post.
Gold Coast had gone into the match with only 4 regular starters, after applying a youth policy for this match and suspending coach Miron Bleiberg. In the first 20 minutes, when they weren't turning the ball over, the Gold Coast United side did look dangerous. But at the back, they looked as shaky as a Californian skyscraper during earthquake season.
The win does not instil much hope to the Heart faithful who face top of the table Central Coast Mariners at home next Sunday. But it may be the small step needed to get their season and championship hopes back on track.
The Gold Coast on the other hand, has a lot of growing up to do, not only on but also off the park. There was no Jeremy Lins in this side, which you thought might turn this team around. They looked like a side, which has lost all hope of being anything special.