Round Four Report

Referees were under fire this week as red cards flashed again, foul counts remained high and coaches vented some steam against the universally disliked men in yellow. Positively, crowds topped 46,000 as Sydney and Queensland fans demonstrated the strength of their support with large turnouts for the second time. Sydney were embarrassed by the Noel Spencer's looping 92nd minute goal for the Mariners, Adelaide overcame a bizarre own goal to win yet again, Victory and the Roar fought out a controversial draw, and Newcastle pounded a miserable New Zealand. As a reult, ladder positions have started to stretch apart a little but with 17 rounds of football left in the season there're oodles of opportunities remaining for the strugglers.

It was also an active week for transfers. Shin Tae-yong pulled a Van Basten when he decided that his ankle has already taken enough punishment in his long, distinguished career. Similar to recently retired Aurelio Vidmar, Shin will now become an assistant coach for the Roar. Replacing Vidmar in Adelaide, Fernando Rech has agreed to resume relations with Kosmina, a partnership that once netted Rech the Australian footballer of the year award. Finally, Adelaide resident Damian Mori has at last come to terms with an A-League club. Presumably signed as yet another injury replacement, Mori will turn out for Perth Glory over the coming weeks.

With other sporting competitions drawing to a close, A-League football is primed for a secondary boost in the wake of its already impressive launch. Sunny days and balmy nights await the supporters over summer, which will surely increase crowd figures - hopefully in the smaller pockets (Mariners, Newcastle, Knights) as well as the largest. Here's hoping we ain't seen nothing yet.

Best of Round Four:

Player: Ross Aloisi (pictured) - telling contributions in the middle of the park (every week!) and a cracking goal on the hop

U-20 Player: Stuart Musialik - putting a diving header into the back of the net and commanding the midfield in tandem with Richard Johnson

Coach: Richard Money - injecting exuberance into a once stagnant, always talented team who're firing on all cylinders at last

Match: Sydney FC vs Central Coast Mariners

Referee: Matthew Breeze

Goal: Michael Baird - from a pinpoint Alex Brosque cross, perfectly angling a volley past a helpless Theoklitos

4-4-2 Team of the Week:

Danny Allsop - Dwight Yorke
Matt Thompson - Seo Hyuk-soo - Ross Aloisi - Hiroyuki Ishida
Alvin Ceccoli - Michael Valkanis - Ned Zelic - Wayne O'Sullivan
John Crawley

Subs: Scott Miller, Stuart Musialik, Alex Brosque, Tom Willis