The rest of round 15

A few days late, but here're my (biased) thoughts on the rest of round 15!

Queensland vs. Perth
Missed this game on Saturday night due to work commitments, but ended up trying to watch it the next morning at 9am. I actually woke up at 9am, got out of bed at ten past and eventually made my way to the TV by 9.20am. So I had missed the first 20 minutes or so, but at the pace the match was going, it didn't seem like I had missed much.

Except for an incident at or near kick-off where Sasa Ognenovski apparently received the ball, and with time, he Mickey-Mouse-passed the ball square, the ball was intercepted by some Perth player and apparently there was a chance. But I missed this, and so I'm not sure if it really happened or not!

I thought Chris Grossman, Spase Dilevski and Matt McKay all played pretty well in the first half, as boring as it was. Distribution of the ball from the midfield seemed to have improved compared to recent weeks. Unfortunately Dilveski seems to be having a mistiming issue with his tackles, or he is being reckless - ended up copping a yellow card for it, but at least he isn't collecting them at the same rate of Melbourne's Adrian Leijer.

The second half was a very different match - ended up being quite entertaining, especially McKay's rocket. Unlike many other A-League players, McKay's first touch was, well, exquisite, putting the ball in a great position so that he could volley the ball home in style. Very classy really. I also thought that Dilevski improved considerably in the second half, having taken the reckless tackles out of his game (amazing what a yellow card can do for some players) and putting in some great crosses. I hope he and McKay play more like this in the coming weeks - maybe not against Melbourne though.

I also hope that there's a way to keep Grossman in the club after his short-term contract expires...

New Zealand vs. Newcastle
Although my second team this season has been Queensland, I still cheer on my second team from last season, New Zealand, on whenever possible (i.e. not playing against either Queensland or my beloved Melbourne). This was a little more difficult than usual as I am a fan of Nick Carle.

New Kiwi signing Dean Gordon worked wonders for the Kiwi defence, always there when the time game. The goal conceded by the Kiwis was unfortunate, and I wonder why Mark Paston was off his line... Relatively new signing Alen Marcina scored via the penalty, but his second half performance was frustrating - he generally played really well, but lacked that final touch to send the ball home.

Central Coast vs. Sydney
If anyone was hoping for at least one match to not have a baised point of view, this isn't the weak. Not that I was going for Central Coast, but I didn't want Sydney to win. Andre Gumprecht was back, which I think was a good thing - I like his leadership on the field and how he often plays for the team.

Alright, so the last part of that sentence didn't make much sense, but I really like to see instances where the ball is controlled by one player and in the same touch played to a nearby player, and Gumprecht seems to do this quite a bit. Me like. :)

It seemed like luck wasn't going the Mariners' way, with two attempts hitting the woodwork in each half.

Sydney had a few opportunities, especially when Alex Brosque nearly got away. A good foul by Alex Wilkinson put an end to any ideas Brosque may have had, and Wilkinson received a yellow card for his efforts. Not that I'm complaining - if you're going to cop a yellow card, it may as well be for a reason.

More good defending from the Mariners when Wayne O'Sullivan brilliantly tackely Steve Corica towards the end of the match, when Corica almost broke through the penalty box. I think the Coast did a good job in keeping Corica quiet, and hopefully Melbourne kept an eye on this.