Round Thirteen Report

Plenty of action, but few goals this week as Sydney, Perth, New Zealand, Melbourne and Queensland all failed to score.

The Central Coast Mariners totally upset Melbourne Victory and the return of Archie Thompson, who started on the bench due to mutual consent (not wanting to ruffle feathers by starting over blokes who had trained hard all week). Without Pondeljak, Gumprecht and Mrdja (who may be back after the December break), the Mariners hustled, and kept their game tight and controlled. Better defence from Victory may have limited the damage, but ultimately it was a deserved win for the Gosford boys.

Dwight Yorke also returned from his successful World Cup qualification stint, also coming off the bench. Sydney's defence did what Melbourne's couldn't and held Perth at bay, but only just. Glory have been on fire lately, with Nick Ward producing some welcome creative spark in the midfield. Having secured Damian Mori for the rest of the season and looking forward to the imminent return of David Tarka, a finals run seems a certainty for the West Australians. Sydney, meanwhile, are clearly looking forward to a closer date with destiny: the Club World Championships in Japan. Among the great news for the Bling is the return of Mark Milligan next week. Having toughed it out with Andrew Packer as the featured right fullback for most of the season, Sydney will surely improve with the talented Milligan back in the lineup. It's a hard encounter for him first up, however, with Adelaide on the road the next fixture.

No doubt, John Kosmina will be thinking long and hard all week about who to start in left midfield for Adelaide, with Pantelis, Brain and Veart among his options. The Reds accounted for the Knights with an ease not reflected on the scoreboard. The Knights can at least salvage some dignity from the result, but statistics like shots on target (15 vs 6) and possession (60% to 40%) illustrate the domination of the South Australian team. The Knights toyed with the defensive structure, starting Frank van Eijs (at last) as sweeper next to Danny Hay. Will small modifications continue to help? With the visit of Melbourne next week, the Knights have perhaps their best chance for a decent result in weeks. Against them, Archie Thompson will no doubt return to full flight. But given the pressure that Ernie Merrick and the Victory squad are under at the moment, I wouldn't be too surprised if the Knights keep this one close.

Queensland and Newcastle capped off the weekend with an entertaining, though frustrating duel in Brisbane. Roar have found no answer to their goal drought and like Merrick, Miron Bleiberg is starting to feel the heat. There was a great deal of misfortune in the result, given that Richter hit the crossbar and Corbo was ruled offside late in the match after burying the ball in the back of Tom Willis' net. But excuses don't count for much when the pattern of failure has become such a long-term problem. As for Newcastle, they continue to look the goods. With good balance across the park, creative brilliance in the form of Nick Carle, the finishing prowess of Ante Milicic, and a defensive backbone as good as anyone's, they are definite title contenders. The recent signing of ex-New Zealand skipper Vaughan Coveny suggests they're looking for (and expecting) a big finish to the season.

Australia's World Cup thrilling qualification campaign left us speechless and will remain etched in our memories forever. A-League attendances were bouyant over the weekend and should continue to pick up as the summer afternoons and nights well and truly kick in. The future is bright. My hope is that national league performances continue to improve and excite. It's nice to see all these eyebrow raising away victories and the occasional unexpected thrashing, but a little consistency and a run of good form will go a long way with the fans. It's too late for the Knights, of course, but the other seven teams are all within range of challenging for the inaugural championship. If it's this close in round twenty-one, what more could we ask for?

Best of Round Thirteen:

Player: Nick Ward (pictured) - continuing to improve since finally assuming an every week role in Glory's central attacking midfield

U-20 Player: Nick Ward

Coach: Lawrie McKinna - extracting a remarkable performance from an under-strength squad with their backs well and truly to the wall

Match: Queensland Roar vs Newcastle United Jets

Referee: Angelo Nardi

Goal: Shengqing Qu - expertly finding space in the box after accurate long-range buildup from Veart and Dodd

4-4-2 Team of the Week:

Shengqing Qu - Stewart Petrie
Damien Brown - Nick Carle - Nick Ward - Richard Kitzbichler
Mateo Corbo - Andrew Clark - Iain Fyfe - Richie Alagich
Clint Bolton

Subs: Matt Horsley, Noel Spencer, Carl Veart, Tom Willis