Weekend Wrap - Round 12

We do a brief wrap of the Round 12 weekend action of the Hyundai A-League.

At one point it looked like the Central Coast Mariners might end Round 12 six points clear at the top of the table, which in anyone-s book had them almost assured of a top-four berth. That lead was narrowed by Queensland to four points after their emphatic 3-0 win over Wellington, while Melbourne and Sydney, the Hyundai A-League-s first two Champions, remain outside the top-four after a 0-0 draw. Perth ended their winless drought that went back almost a year, with a 4-1 thumping of Newcastle in driving rain.

Results Newcastle Jets 1 lost PERTH GLORY 4 CENTRAL COAST MARINERS 2 beat Adelaide United 0 Melbourne Victory 0 drew Sydney FC 0 QUEENSLAND ROAR 3 beat Wellington Phoenix 0

Game Wraps The reign of Dave Mitchell at Perth Glory got off to the perfect start and ended almost a year of winless football for Glory, with a thumping win over Newcastle Jets at EnergyAustralia Stadium. Played in driving rain throughout, Perth looked and played like a different team to that has underlined their start to the season. Mitchell started by putting Jamie Harnwell back in the centre of defence, where he has played the majority of his career and they looked more resolute as a result. They were handed a gift lead in the 25th minute, when Andrew Durante cracked a shot into his own net. Joel Griffiths, the Jets most productive player, pulled a goal back soon after the break, but within two minutes, Perth had the lead back through Jordan Simpson and never looked back. Struggling striker Nikita Rukavytsya then stamped his mark on the match with two goals in the 63rd and 91st minutes, to seal a deserved and much needed confidence-boosting win.

John Aloisi chose the perfect stage to open his account for the Central Coast Mariners, scoring twice against his home-town club Adelaide United at Bluetongue Central Coast Stadium. After a tight first half, where both sides had their chances to open the scoring, the deadlock was broken in the 49th minute, when Aloisi was brought down in the penalty box by Eugene Galekovic. As we have come to expect from Aloisi, he made no mistake from the spot, for his first goal in the Hyundai A-League. However he wasn-t finished there and 10 minutes later, he showed why he will be a terrific recruit for the Mariners, with a superbly taken volley under pressure, from a John Hutchinson cross. The win over its nearest rival, took them six points clear at the top (albeit only for a day).

It had the makings of a titanic clash, with arguably the two biggest teams in the Hyundai A-League going head-to-head at Telstra Dome. Both Melbourne and Sydney came into the match in different form and both outside the top-four; a win would push either of them into the four. But neither side could get the goal that was needed and the point left them both still outside of the finals positions. The match never really got going until the second half, when a depleted Melbourne upped the ante through Archie Thompson and quickly had several chances. First Clint Bolton denied Thompson with a superb stop and then Kevin Muscat hit a cracking drive against the post, with the rebound finding Matthew Kemp, whose shot deflected off Thompson and ballooned over the bar. The introduction of Juninho, sparked Sydney and Alex Brosque then found the post as well with a drive from the edge of the area. Brosque was to also find the crossbar, his beautifully taken volley hitting Kemp on the way. Thompson had the chance to steal the points in injury time, but fired across the face of goal from 10 metres out.

Queensland Roar moved into second position on the table and reduced Central Coast-s lead at the top of the table to four points, after a Brazilian-led second half rout of Wellington Phoenix. Queensland started well, but as has been their way in the past, couldn-t buy a goal. Wellington-s chances of mounting a serious challenge then evaporated when Ahmed Elrich was sent off for a clash with Hyuk-Su Seo in the 34th minute. However Queensland struggled to break down the Phoenix rearguard, until the arrival of Marcinho. It was his spectacular overhead kick that led to former Roar player Karl Dodd being pinged for handball and it was left to Reinaldo, to convert twice from the spot (first disallowed for encroachment) to open the scoring. Reinaldo then made it 2-0 with some Brazilian magic in the 79th minute, scoring with a fancy flick behind his body from Matt McKay-s low cross. Marcinho wrapped up the scoring three minutes later, when he was on the end of a sweeping counterattack by Michael Zullo and duly made no mistake with his open shot.

Highlights & Lowlights It has been a long while for Perth fans to celebrate a win, so they will be hoping the 4-1 win on Friday can be duplicated when they return to Members Equity Stadium, when they host Central Coast next Sunday.

Goals Tally: 10

Card Count: 15 yellows - 1 red

Attendance/Average: 65,484 / 16,371

Goal of the Week A few goals to pick from, with Aloisi-s volley a classy strike, while there is nothing better than a swift counter-attack coming off which is finished off (Marcinho goal). However Reinaldo-s neat little flick (reminiscent of Mark Viduka-s goal at the Atlanta Olympics) gets the nod, as much for the build up as his finish. Robbie Kruse-s delightful defence-splitting pass to Matt McKay started it and McKay took the by-line, before cutting a low cross to Reinaldo, who was only two metres out. But with the ball slightly behind him, Reinaldo instinctively stroked his flick shot behind him, which nutmegged Karl Dodd and beat Glen Moss.

Player of the Week Again a touch choice, but we will go with Nikita Rukavytsya, who has struggled since Round 1 after a promising pre-season with Perth Glory, the Ukrainian-born striker has explosive pace and skills to match, but in front of goal he has often showed a lack of composure. However on Friday in Newcastle, he was at the centre of four goals for Perth, including scoring his first two goals. Obviously Dave Mitchell will be hoping this gives the young man a shot in the arm and he goes from strength to strength.

One to Watch Starts for Matt Simon have been few and far between at Central Coast, but injury and suspension provided him with a chance to start alongside John Aloisi on Saturday against Adelaide and he took it with both hands. Tall, strong and willing to put himself about are his trademarks and was in full evidence, as he created havoc amongst the Adelaide defenders. He had a goal disallowed for offside and while he didn-t get the assist for Aloisi-s second goal, it was his perseverance that allowed Hutchinson to get the cross in initially. He has certainly put the pressure on coach Lawrie McKinna on whether or not to give him another start this week against Perth.