Contrary to popular opinion I don’t mind being proved wrong especially if I benefit from it. Miron Bleiberg, however, is doing his best to prove me spectacularly right.
On paper the starting line up made no sense. On the pitch it managed to make it less so. Tommy Willis was the only person who seemed to be 100% confident of which position he was actually playing.
With Chad Gibson and Remo Buess at centre back (I can only imagine McLaren was injured because he looked decent against Sydney), Dilevski apparently at right back and even stranger Matt McKay appeared to be playing left back. This then left four centre midfielders: Moon, Seo, Murdocca and Gava; with Brosque and Baird up front. Sheer bewilderment resulted – especially the unfortunate Gava who appeared to be trying to play defensive midfielder with the energetic Seo doing exactly the same.
Consequently Newcastle did all the running and created all the chances. Their crisp passing was a stark contrast to the laboured efforts of the Roar. They created several chances early on – the closest being Thompson hitting the post although Willis appeared to have it covered.
Queensland did create some chances – Michael Baird was played in well and although his first touch was poor, a good second touch dragged it into a good shooting position but gave the Newcastle defence time to get back and make a block.
The goal, which in the Roar’s defence, took a long time coming, but arrive it did with the inevitability of Bleiberg making changes to his starting eleven. A long ball found Nick Carle making break challenged by Todd Gava. Willis came out and saved well but the ball broke to Thompson who, with Willis on the floor, easily scored. With Milicic also on hand there were three Newcastle strikers in the box when the goal went in and only one defender – Gava.
Surprisingly there were no changes at half time and consequently we had more of the same although Newcastle, thankfully, seemed unable to create much.
The first change came on 55 minutes and really sparked Queensland to life. Jordan Simpson came on for Murdocca as Bleiberg looked to get the equaliser. It almost paid immediate dividends. The ball was played into his feet and he spun away from his marker to strike a swerving shot just past the post.
It was a sign of the game changing as Simpson created real unrest amongst the Newcastle defence. The 65th minute introduction of Jonti Richter for Michael Baird and less than ten minutes later saw Osvaldo Carro come on for Warren Moon further increased Queensland’s attacking potential and they created a lot of sustained pressure.
It so nearly paid off when a cross from Gava was collected by Richter, who laid a ball into the path of Simpson. Simpson’s shot was blocked and spun across to the right where Richter again won the ball forcing a header across the face of the goal where it was met with a diving header by Carro into the net. Unfortunately, the goal was ruled off for offside although subsequent viewings on the highlights show give no evidence as to where the offside came.
Queensland didn’t let their heads drop and Richter struck the bar in the dieing seconds but Newcastle hung on for the win.
Match Ratings
Atmosphere: 7 More impressive given the paucity of the football on offer
Crowd: 4 Lowest of the season – no doubt partly due to the bizarre kick off time.
Result: 0 In many ways a 1-0 loss wasn’t bad given that the team didn’t seem to know what they were doing in the first half but a draw would have been a just reward for all their effort.
Referee: 5 Only two bookings and he let the game flow but Queensland were robbed with the offside decision.
Team Ratings
Willis 8 An excellent performance given the fact that his defence was almost non-existent
McKay 6 Must be wishing he could actually start a game at his preferred position of centre mid
Gibson 6 Not at his best – probably due the uncertainty around him
Buess 5 Never really looked comfortable at centre back and his distribution was woeful
Dilevski 6 Worked hard and delivered a few good crosses although, unsurprisingly, was exposed as a full back a few times
Gava 7 Almost anonymous for the first half but sprung to life when given a chance and created several excellent chances. Work rate in the second half was also good.
Moon 6 Bizarrely preferred to Carro which isn’t a reflection on Moon – rather Carro being much more of an influential player. Moon played well without excelling
Hyuk-Su Seo 7 Unlucky with a 30 yard shot and worked very hard
Murdocca 7 Worked hard against the tide in the first half
Baird 5 The crowd applauded the decision to take him off which says it all
Brosque 6 Worked hard although with little reward
Substitutes
Richter 7 Hit the cross bar, worked hard and proved exactly why he is the crowd favourite
Simpson J 8 Unusual to get a Man of the Match award for a substitute appearance but Simpson was the catalyst for a vastly improved performance by the Roar in the second half. Almost scored with his first touch and caused some real problems in the Newcastle defence. MAN OF THE MATCH
Carro 7 Not given long to impress but still showed some good touches
