I’VE said many times before in this column that a good performance can outshine the wrong result.
And so it proved last Sunday night in what was another classic instalment of the Mariners-Brisbane Roar rivalry.
I-VE said many times before in this column that a good performance can outshine the wrong result.
And so it proved last Sunday night in what was another classic instalment of the Mariners-Brisbane Roar rivalry.
That we were 2-0 down going into the home leg of the tie and then Brisbane scored a goal in the second minute that has since been declared a “wrong decision” by FFA referee-s boss Mark Shield mattered little to our players.
Roar as we know then took a 2-0 lead on the night after 26 minutes and a lesser side would have crumbled under the might of a Brisbane side on a roll.
Not the Mariners!
Within 6 minutes of going 2-0 down we were level at 2-2 after an outstanding strike by big Dutchman Patrick Zwaanswijk and a well-worked and well-finished goal from Adam Kwasnik (that included very intelligent build-up play from midfielder Ollie Bozanic).
A clear penalty claim in our favour for handball against Henrique was then turned down by referee Jarred Gillett before halftime. Did that really all happen in the space of just 45 minutes?
We came away from the first leg happy with our second half performance and we believe we built further on that last Sunday.
Put simply, the big decisions went against us on the night but we are not dwelling on it for one moment.
We moved on to analysing Perth first thing Monday morning and can-t wait for the challenge tomorrow night when we host the Grand Final Qualifier at Bluetongue Stadium.
Perth has momentum and boast a genuine dangerman in striker Shane Smeltz. We go into the game in red hot form and will be looking for that consistency of performance to continue this weekend.
Tuesday-s Hyundai A-League Awards night also provided the club with a major shot in the arm when Graham Arnold was named FFA Coach of the Year and young custodian Matty Ryan both the NAB Young Player of the Year and the FFA Goalkeeper of the Year.
We had four nominees for the Young Player of the Year award with Ryan, Musti Amini, Bernie Ibini-Isei and Tom Rogic all on the shortlist. It-s an achievement everyone at the club is extremely proud of.
The awards are richly deserved with Matty receiving the NAB award for the second consecutive year. ‘Arnie- grabbed his second award of the season following on from the PFA Coach of the Year and has really taken the A-League to another level.
He has given the Coast a team and a style of football to be extremely proud of!
