There was plenty of bite in the build up to this game with Miron Bleiberg and John Kosmina exchanging insults in the build up. Bleiberg intimated that Adelaide striker Fernando Rech – who had had a spell with the Strikers under Kosmina – was past his best.

It probably wasn’t the best plan in the world to rile up a striker without a goal to his name and it came back to bite Bleiberg when Rech scored the opening goal in the 59^th minute. He lost his marker, Massimo Murdocca, and diverted the ball into the next leaving Scott Higgins no chance.

The equaliser came barely four minutes after Brownlie had been on the pitch. The ball was played into the box and he hit a low side footed shot past Beltrame for his first goal of the season. He looks a much improved player since recovering from  a virus.

Queensland continued to create chances but were hit by a sucker punch in the 89^th minute. Richie Alagich – himself a second half substitute – drove in a shot from the right hand of the box, which Higgins was unable to hold and in the goalmouth scramble Lucas Pantelis forced the ball home.

There was allegedly a further altercation between Bleiberg and Kosmina on the touchline. Which will make for an interesting return leg.

Match Ratings

Atmosphere:   7            Smaller crowd but noisier

Crowd:             6          15,181 – a good turnout

Result:              1          Could have and should have won

Referee:            6          Average

Team Ratings

Higgins             6          Hard to blame him for either goal although he might have been able to hold Alagich’s initial shot. Looked a little shaky under crosses and there were one or two occasions when he might have come out for a cross and didn’t.

McCloughan     6          Fairly quiet game

Gibson            7          Accomplished on the ball as usual. Man of the Match

Buess               6          Needs to work on linking up with the right mid (in this case McKay) more

Dodd               5          Should’ve picked up Rech for the first goal

McKay            6          Looked a little of the pace as a result of his suspension

Murdocca        6          Subdued again and needs to shoot more

Carro               7          Provides good options in attack

Hyuk-Su Seo   7          Popped up everywhere as usual although lacked his usual influence

Baird                6          Came looking for the ball a lot and as a consequence wasn’t pushing on the last man

Brosque           7          Needs a goal to boost his confidence but some wonderful runs with the ball

Substitutes

Brownlie           7          Well taken goal and caused the Adelaide defence a lot of issues

Moon               6          Not as influential as Carro but worked hard

Dilevski            7          Provided a lot more width to the midfield

Back to back losses for Adelaide have brought a halt to their impressive start to the season and Miron Bleiberg must fancy his chances against a defence, previously impassable, that leaked four goals to Newcastle last Friday night. Indeed, it wasn’t until round 4 that they conceded a goal and it took the league’s leading scorer Bobby Despotovski to breach their defence.

As a result of the four goals conceded, Adelaide have relinquished their title as best defence in the league to Melbourne. The Roar now have the second best defence in the league. Queensland’s defence has been the most settled area of the team with Gibson playing all 8 games, McCloughan and Buess 7 and Dodd 6 with keeper Tom Willis also playing 6. With all the praise heaped on Queensland’s speedy attack, the defence has gone on and done its job with remarkable poise. In fact, Queensland have also managed the most clean sheets this season – 4 – ahead of Melbourne and Adelaide on 3.

Adelaide’s great start to the season was built on the back of their very strong defence and their attack has only hit the back of the net 10 times so far this season – the 3^rd lowest in the league. Again the Roar out-do this statistic with only 9 goals for the season.

However, Adelaide have shown a propensity to get more goals from all over the field with 6 different players (and an own goal) getting on the score sheet.

Their leading goal scores are Shenqqing and Valkanis, both with 2 goals. Shengqing, their marquee player, missed the early start of the season with an injury and consequently has only started three games this season – making his 2 goals more impressive. He is a constant threat and will require a lot of attention as he works his way back to full fitness. Michael Valkanis is an impressive centre back who has a great deal of NSL experience with South Melbourne and Adelaide and also had spells in Greece with Iraklis and Larissa. He is a threat from set pieces and is always dangerous.

In goal Daniel Beltrame has been excellent for Adelaide and has only missed two games so far. He was instrumental in keeping Adelaide in the game against Queensland in round 2 at Hindmarsh stadium. He is an excellent shot stopper so the likes of Richter and Brosque will have to work hard to beat him.

Along side Valkanis in central defence is Kristian Rees – an ever present for Adelaide. The remainder of the defence depends on whether manager John Kosmina resorts to four or five at the back which he has switched between. Aaron Goulding can play left back or left centre back as can Adam Vandommele. Both have considerable NSL experience and have played for Australia at youth levels. Richie Alagich will almost certainly line up on the right hand side. He played for the Strikers between 2001 and 2003.

Angelo Costanzo is another ever present for Adelaide. He has been capped six times for Australia and will anchor the midfield. It lines up as one of the key battles of the game between him and Seo. Travis Dodd will line up on the right hand side of midfield and always looks to get forward. Remo Buess marked him well in the first game though. He had a spell with Panionios in Greece in 2004/05 and managed a goal against Udinese in the UEFA cup. The left midfield spot will be filled by either Matt Kemp or rising star Lucas Pantelis. Pantelis caused Karl Dodd plenty of problems in the first game. Kemp brings plenty of experience with him.

Ross Aloisi has been capped five times for Australia and has been an ever present for Adelaide so far this season. However, he has struggled to find goals with a solitary strike against Perth all that is against his name. He is likely to sit in the hole behind the strikers.

Carl Veart grabbed Adelaide’s first ever goal against Newcastle in round 1 but has also struggled since then. A lack of a real partner has hindered him with both Aloisi and Louis Brain pushed up alongside him with Shengqing missing so much.

Key Battles

Qu Shengqing vs Josh McCloughan

With Gibson as more of a sweeper, most of the man marking duties fall to McCloughan and he has handled them well, particularly against Dwight Yorke. Shengqing’s lack of fitness should help him too.

Angelo Costanzo vs Hyuk-Su Seo

Seo has been one of the revelations of the A-League with his tireless running but Costanzo is also a very mobile player – whoever comes out on top here could influence the end result.

Season To Date

Leading Scorer: Shengqing, Valkanis (2)

Average Attendance: 10,000

TUQRS prediction: 1-0 win to the Roar