MV Match

[Fishsdad]

delovski is as dishonest as they come.[/quote]

Cannot agree - Delovski is as good as we have got. Not all his calls are correct, but Patrick deserved a yellow for his ridiculous action in the first 5 minutes, and after that there is always a risk that a badly timed tackle, or a loose arm in heading the ball (as in this case) will earn another yellow.

Still cannot believe we escaped with a point from this. Not sure whether it was a truly superb defensive effort, or just plain luck - probabaly a bit of each

 

[true believer]

when you get raised arms everygame you see. when you get chest pumping in the 1st couple of minutes .
when you get the same 2 or 3 players ,in horse play every week with barley a yellow being waved.
you knowwho's in charge. delovski is pure shite ,he picked his man .
think of that when you watch a game with delovski in charge, next and the blinkers are on again.

 

[ballantyne]

when you get raised arms everygame you see. when you get chest pumping in the 1st couple of minutes .
when you get the same 2 or 3 players ,in horse play every week with barley a yellow being waved.
you knowwho's in charge. delovski is pure shite ,he picked his man .
think of that when you watch a game with delovski in charge, next and the blinkers are on again.

It's best if you hear it with the music.

Anyway, Nabbout was in too much space for their first goal - Sainsbury I think ball-watching. Pat's absence next game is a chance for the central defence to do some work and sharpen up a bit.
But surely McBreen is a talking point! Since Matt Simon left we've been looking for a double digit goal scorer, and here he is. Strong, attacks the space, confident shots, backs himself, defends well. And Rogic is on fire.
Ref had an OK game I thought.

 

[Gratis]

The Rogic/McBreen combination is paying dividends

 

[Roy Law]

This was a great game; a great advert for the A League. It was the archetypal game of two halves: the first full of brilliant sophisticated football the second all about character and organisation.
The Mariners, unchanged for the fifth game in a row, played with a confidence and composure that bordered on arrogance so sure were they of their football; Melbourne matched them with attacking brilliance. The Mariners didn’t just play possession football it was the way they won the ball, foot or head, and played the ball to a team mate. There was almost no hacked clearances; the football was calm and clinical. The icing on the cake was the genius of Tom Rogic and the rampaging leading of the line by Daniel McBreen.
Melbourne matched them; Rojas in particular the jewel in some sparkling entertaining football.

The Mariners opened the scoring when McBreen converted a Sterjovski first time cross after a brilliant Rogic pass on the break; Victory equalised when Rojas skinned Josh Rose for Nabbout to get a yard on Sainsbury and head home emphatically past Mat Ryan. You could criticise the defending but only marvel at the execution.

The Mariners didn’t miss a beat: McBreen was a real handful for the Victory defence giving legitimacy to the long ball as a weapon of attacking variation; Rogic was turning the massive stadium into a Futsal court, playing with a big smile on his face, drawing comparison to a young Ned Zelic. He reminds me so much of late Chelsea God Peter Osgood with his ability to casually glide past people.

The Mariners took the lead when McBreen wrestled for possession of Sainsbury’s immaculate long ball and then skilfully got rid of the defender to thump the ball past Nathan Coe. Victory equalised: again you could criticise the defending but only marvel at the quality. Rose conceded a rash foul; the free kick was centimetre perfect and Milligan’s glancing header left Ryan helpless.

Rogic forced a save from Coe with a shot from the edge of the area; McBreen almost put Rogic in with the last attack of the half. The football had been breathtaking and entertaining; a display of the very best quality. We all looked forward to the second half but had no expectation of what was to come.

Zwaanswijk’s clumsy early second yellow changed everything. As he walked off, stony faced, Arnie calmly made the change: Anderson was always going to be the replacement but I expected Sterjovski to be the sacrifice but it was Rogic who got the tap on the shoulder. And the well-drilled disciplined Mariners didn’t miss a beat. They lined up with a wall of four in front of the wall of four at the back and withstood the siege. The composure and self-belief was remarkable. The self-discipline the key. Monty gave up a yellow with a professional foul for the team but it wasn’t until the last minutes that Hutchinson lunged in. The Mariners simply stayed on their feet, didn’t commit, didn’t panic and didn’t dive in. Melbourne clearly had their moments but then the key quality of desperation kicked in as the Mariners cleared their lines. There was never a moment when Victory should have scored, only a couple of could-have-beens.
The dying moments captured the spirit and character of the team as the exhausted McBreen still had time to run past defenders down the sideline.

I gave 3 points to McBreen as my MoM;

Rogic 2 pts but could have been more with a full 90 and

1 pt to Montgomery for another intelligent defensive display

 

[Roy Law]

Sorry for the late report but couldn't get access to the very attractive site