Sunday, January 28, 2007

The A-League Finals - Stage 1

Just a short post for the moment while I gather my thoughts.

Sydney vs. Newcastle
A disappoinyinh crowd witnessed Newcastle get runover by a Sydney team that played the kind of football I dislike - instead of making the ball do the work, they did the work themselves. As they ran out of puff, Newcastle got back into the match. Sure McFlynn's injury had something to do with this, but crucially I believe it was how Butcher responded to the injury that let Newcastle back in.

Adelaide vs. Melbourne
Melbourne should have gone to Adelaide with the intention of scoring at least one goal. However, it was evident early on that they were playing for a draw. As Adelaide kept getting chances, especially towards the end of the match, it was reducing the time that Melbourne would have to get one back in the event that Adelaide scored. It reminded me of the Socceroos biding their time against Italy, waiting for extra time - and extra time never came. Luckily for Melbourne however, Adelaide didn't score. It means we must win at the Dome next week, for a scored draw puts Adelaide through. If anything, the pressure's on us. If we get one goal, and Adelaide sneak one back, they're through. I hope Merrick aims for a 2-0 score, so we have a little buffer, just in case.

More to follow...

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Merrick is conservative. I think his game plan will be not to concede a goal and hope that Archie-Fred-Danny steal one (very much like today's).

I don't like it but it might be the right thing to do.

Its very scary.