After two away games the Roar returned to Brisbane hoping for a return to winning ways and another bumper crowd.
Unfortunately, one man contrived to ruin not only a potential 3 points but also the game as an entertainment spectacle: referee Ben Williams.
The tone of the game was set when Baird was booked a short while into the game for a 50/50 challenge on the keeper. The ball was there and he had every right to go for it. Unfortunately Williams saw differently and booked Baird.
Despite this the Roar had the best of the opening passage of play with the hobbit midfield of Murdocca and McKay working particularly well. The first chance of the game fell to Alex Brosque in the 5th minute but the Victory defence managed to close him down and the blocked shot was easy for the keeper to deal with.
Despite all their pressure chances were at a premium – Brosque had a penalty appeal turned down on 11 minutes and McKay saw a long range shot clear the bar. Melbourne had the best chance of the first half when Archie Thompson created some space in the area and Willis had to be at his acrobatic best to deflect the ball over the cross bar. It was atonement for an earlier corner that he had flapped out but luckily the Melbourne player at the back post was unable to capitalize.
The key moment of the game came with 5 minutes to go till half time. McKay had made one half attempt to tackle Steve Pantelidis and then leapt in two footed. The referee pulled out the red card immediately. Whilst the challenge was late and crude, a yellow card would have been far more appropriate.
At half time Bleiberg replaced Richter, who had looked lively, with Warren Moon in order to cover better for being down to 10 men.
Unsurprisingly, Melbourne started the second half the stronger of the two teams with chances falling to Claeys, Vlahos and Muscat in the first ten minutes.
However, Queensland worked their way back into the game with some good pressure and it paid off on the hour mark, when Alex Brosque picked up the ball on the right hand side before floating a delightful ball into the box for Baird to volley into the net.
The game died a little from this point as Queensland defended their lead. Melbourne were offering little in the way of attack.
Unfortunately, Queensland were only able to hold on until two minutes from time. Again, referee Ben Williams was to play a key part in the role as the ball was played by Vince Lia and converted by Danny Allsopp. Archie Thompson was clearly in an offside position but took advantage of the new FIFA directive on ‘passive offsides’ by letting the ball past him for Allsopp. However, there was no doubt that the Roar defence was put off by Thompson’s run and that allowed Allsopp to get a touch on the ball.
Match Ratings
Atmosphere: 8 Smaller crowd but still the 5th highest attedance so far and the crowd made far more noise than in the first game.
Crowd: 7 A good crowd size.
Tannoy bloke: 5 No more attempts to rabble-rouse but still that annoying lion’s roar randomly through the game
Roary: 4 Came nowhere near us. Poor ground coverage – especially as we had a 6 yr old with us
Result: 6 I’d have taken a draw after McKay got sent off but it was a disappointment in the end.
Referee: 2 Woeful. Made the game more spiteful because of his involvement. Hopefully we won’t see him again.
Team Ratings
Willis 7 Another good performance – his save from Thompson was excellent. Not at fault for the goal.
McCloughan 7 Combined well with the rest of the back four.
Gibson 8 Looking more accomplished on the ball as the season goes on. Made a couple of impressive runs forward and was unlucky with a well taken free kick in the second half.
Dilevski 7 Quietly effective, good deliveries going forward
Dodd 7 Also developing well and made a few very incisive passes.
McKay 5 Whilst I don’t think he should have been sent off it was still a stupid challenge. Looked creative up until that point.
Murdocca 8 Worked tirelessly and was particularly effective in the second half. Also showed his versatility when moved to right back. MAN OF THE MATCH
Hyuk-Su Seo 7 Protected the back four well.
Richter 6 Created a few chances before departing at half time to make way for a more defensive midfielder.
Baird 7 Worked hard and took his goal well
Brosque 7 Had a few chances and should have converted one. An excellent assist for Baird’s goal. He looks at his most dangerous dropping deep and running at defenders.
Substitutes
Brownlie 6 Worked hard when he came on but got isolated a lot. Could have worked harder given there was only half an hour left when he came on.
Moon 7 Stiffened up the midfield when required.
