A League Round 4 Wrap Up

[Beejayville]

A-League Weekend Wrap of Round 4 It has taken four rounds, but we finally had a weekend where wins outnumbered draws, which have been prevalent in the opening three rounds. In fact the only draw this weekend, featured the only team (Central Coast Mariners) that has been able to win regularly in the first three rounds, while Wellington and Queensland scored important away wins for their first victories of the season and Newcastle made it two straight 1-0 victories. Game Wraps Sydney FC 1 lost WELLINGTON PHOENIX 2 Wellington Phoenix’s Brazilian connection rose to the fore at Sydney Football Stadium, handing the Phoenix its first Hyundai A-League victory against a disappointing Sydney FC. The home side took the lead when Adam Casey pounced after six minutes, but it didn’t take long for the Phoenix to be on level terms – three minutes in fact - and in sensational style as well (see Goal of the Week). Fellow Brazilian, Daniel then added a second goal from the penalty spot in the 29th minute, after he was bundled over in the box by Ruben Zadkovich. NEWCASTLE JETS 1 beat Adelaide United 0 Newcastle recorded its second win in succession with yet another late goal securing all three points. Mark Bridge shot from the left side of the penalty box after 81 minutes settled what was a dour affair, with neither side able to really get the better of the opposition defence until that point. Newcastle also paraded marquee signing Mario Jardel for the first time, although apart from one nice flick that bamboozled Angelo Costanzo, he was unable to have much influence on proceedings. Melbourne Victory 0 drew Central Coast Mariners 0 Melbourne’s Championship defence is still waiting to take off, after being held to its fourth straight draw, this time a 0-0 draw with leaders Central Coast Mariners. Despite the scoreline, it was an entertaining match with both sides having good chances to score, but both keeper’s were in inspired form. The Mariners showed their resilience, losing Nik Mrdja before kick-off and Sasho Petrovski after half an hour, with Adam Kwasnik hitting the crossbar twice, while Tom Pondeljak and Mile Jedinak were denied by fine saves by Michael Theoklitos, Up the other end, Danny Allsopp had a night to forget, denied by Danny Vukovic and also poking a shot wide from close range when it looked easier to score. Tony Vidmar was sent off in injury time after a professional foul on Victory striker Archie Thompson. Perth Glory 1 lost QUEENSLAND ROAR 2 Perth Glory’s worrying lack of home form continued after they let a one-goal lead slip against Queensland Roar, who grabbed all three points with a 2-1 win. Former captain Jamie Harnwell, starting up front for the first time, put Glory ahead in the 14th minute with a quick snap at goal. However 7 minutes later, poor marking at a corner, saw Josh McCloughan score his first Hyundai A-League goal, smacking home from close range. The match was in the balance with five minutes to play, but the more adventurous Roar grabbed the win, when Matt McKay when he was quickest to react to a loose ball in the penalty area and he lashed his shot home. Goal of the Week No doubt about this week’s goal and it had that touch of South American flair about it. Felipe had shown glimpses of his talent in three matches coming off the bench. Given a start against Sydney, Felipe Receiving the ball 30 metres out Felipe headed goalwards, did one step over, pushed the ball to his left and unleashed a fierce drive – ala Messi like (v Australia) – with exception being Felipe’s thundered into the back of the net. Player of the Week Goalkeeper’s rarely get the plaudits when it comes to picking out the best players, but several keepers certainly earned their keep - excuse the pun – on the weekend. Michael Theoklitos was superb for Victory, as was Danny Vukovic up the other end. However we will go with one of the unheralded keepers, with Wellington’s Glen Moss having an outstanding match between the sticks. He kept Sydney at bay on several occasions, especially in the second half when Sydney was piling on the pressure in the second half. One to Watch It's a Wellington trifecta this week. He suffered at the hands of the Mariners several weeks ago, but Australian Under 23 squad member Steven O’Dor is a player on the rise. He learnt his lessons well from the Mariners match and with Ricki Herbert keeping faith with his young defender and his performance against Sydney FC was justification of that faith, with a very solid display in the centre of the defence.

[Beejayville]

Re: A League Round 4 Wrap Up A LEAGUE LADDER AFTER ROUND 4

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Central Coast Mariners	4	3	1	0	5	0	5	10
2	Newcastle Jets	4	2	2	0	3	1	2	8
3	Queensland Roar	4	1	2	1	5	5	0	5
4	Melbourne Victory	4	0	4	0	3	3	0	4
5	Wellington Phoenix	4	1	1	2	4	7	-3	4
6	Adelaide United	3	0	3	1	5	6	-1	3
7	Perth Glory	4	0	3	1	1	2	-1	3
8	Sydney	4	0	2	2	3	5	-2	2

[Beejayville]

Re: A League Round 4 Wrap Up TEAMS SO FAR... :clap:clap:clap Central Coast Mariners Yet to concede a goal and sit on top of the League table undefeated. Playing great football and have quality players all through their team. The Mariners should get better as the season progresses. Players such as Mjdra and Petrovski up front combined with Kwasnik and Gumprecht in midfield sees this team as one that can beat anyone on their day. Dean Heffernan down back has been sensational. :clap:clap Newcastle Jets Yet to taste defeat and are sitting a clear second on the table. Quality down back with Adam Griffiths starting to perform, and with brother Joel up front the Jets are a handy side. New signing Jardel looked pretty good after he came off the bench, and with a few games under his belt he is going to cause defenders some problems. :clap Queensland Roar Attractive side who always create plenty of chances and if they can manage to convert those chances then they can ebat anyone on their day. Very strong defensively with Tiatto, Moore and Ogenovski. They have McKay and Seo in midfiled who provide plenty of drive. they need more conversion from the likes of Reinaldo and Milicic. :ok Melbourne Victory Last season's runaway premiers are yet to have a win this season and it is all down to their inability to find the net on a consistent basis. They are failing to conjure up many chances like last year, but last season they scored every 5 shots or so, this season they haven't looked like scoring much. Defensively they are still very hard to penetrate, and maybe the tide will turn offensively very soon. :ok Wellington Phoenix Been a revelation as a new team. Tough and uncompromising and fighting every game out. They won away to Sydney last weekend which is no mean feat. Wellington will trouble most sides and could be the surprise factor this season. :ok Adelaide United Disappointing on the weekend with Nathan Burns out and Adelaide have been very good up until that game. It was their 3rd away game in four though and they will be better when playing back at Hindmarsh stadium. Adelaide are a good side and potential top 2 material :zzz Perth Glory Very good defensively but the score less than I do lately so unless they can conjur up some more goals they are either going to lose more games or have many 0-0 draws. :sad Sydney Very disappointing at the moment after a bright Juninho driven start against Central Coast. Sydney were poor Friday night against new team Wellington and that defeat would have hit them hard. they need to improve and no doubt will.

[Beejayville]

Re: A League Round 4 Wrap Up MOST FREQUENT SCORES

Score	Times	%
0-0	4	25 %
2-2	3	19 %
0-1	3	19 %
1-2	2	13 %
1-1	2	13 %
1-0	1	6 %
3-0	1	6 %

From 16 games this season there has been four 0-0 draws, so one could be well in front simply taking correct score bets of 0-0 each week.

[Beejayville]

Re: A League Round 4 Wrap Up TOTAL MATCH GOALS

Matches involving...	0-1 goal	2-3 goals	4-5 goals	5+ goals	Goals Per Match
Adelaide Utd	1	1	2	0	2.75
CC Mariners	3	1	0	0	1.25
Melbourne Vict	2	1	1	0	1.5
Newcastle Jets	3	1	0	0	1
Perth Glory	3	1	0	0	0.75
Queensland Roar	1	2	1	0	2.5
Sydney FC	2	1	1	0	2
Wellington Ph	1	2	1	0	2.75

[pete]

Re: A League Round 4 Wrap Up Think Sydney are really struggling, their defence is all over the place, unless Junino gets back soon they are going to struggle. Thought the Vivtory/Mariners game although scoreless was a good quality game and Mariners are good value to be leading the comp.

[Beejayville]

Re: A League Round 4 Wrap Up Good observation Pete and you are spot on :ok

[Beejayville]

Re: A League Round 4 Wrap Up

GOALS FOR

	Team	Goals For	0-45	45-90	Per Match	Avg Min.	GF every
1	Adelaide Utd	5	40 %	60 %	1.25	44	72 min.
2	CC Mariners	5	80 %	20 %	1.25	23	72 min.
3	Queensland Roar	5	40 %	60 %	1.25	59	72 min.
4	Wellington Ph	4	50 %	50 %	1.	46	90 min.
5	Melbourne Vict	3	33 %	66 %	.75	53	120 min.
6	Newcastle Jets	3	25 %	75 %	.75	67	120 min.
7	Sydney FC	3	66 %	33 %	.75	30	120 min.
8	Perth Glory	1	100 %	0 %	.25	14	360 min.

GOALS AGAINST

	Team	Goals Against	0-45	45-90	Per Match	Avg Min.	GA every
1	Newcastle Jets	1	0 %	100 %	.25	70	360 min.
2	Perth Glory	2	50 %	50 %	.5	52	180 min.
3	Melbourne Vict	3	0 %	100 %	.75	76	120 min.
4	Sydney FC	5	80 %	20 %	1.25	25	72 min.
5	Queensland Roar	5	50 %	50 %	1.25	40	72 min.
6	Adelaide Utd	6	33 %	66 %	1.5	61	60 min.
7	Wellington Ph	7	71 %	28 %	1.75	30	51 min.

NOTE: Central Coast are yet to concede a goal

[Beejayville]

Re: A League Round 4 Wrap Up SHOTS PER GOAL

	OVERALL
	Team	Shots	Goals	Per Goal
1	Adelaide Utd	59	5	11.8
2	CC Mariners	60	5	12.0
3	Wellington Ph	55	4	13.8
4	Newcastle Jets	44	3	14.7
5	Melbourne Vict	52	3	17.3
6	Queensland Roar	93	5	18.6
7	Sydney FC	72	3	24.0
8	Perth Glory	57	1	57.0
	HOME
	Team	Shots	Goals	Per Goal
1	CC Mariners	22	3	7.3
2	Newcastle Jets	23	2	11.5
3	Sydney FC	48	3	16.0
4	Wellington Ph	33	2	16.5
5	Adelaide Utd	21	1	21.0
6	Queensland Roar	54	2	27.0
7	Perth Glory	42	1	42.0
8	Melbourne Vict	29	0
	AWAY
	Team	Shots	Goals	Per Goal
1	Melbourne Vict	23	3	7.7
2	Adelaide Utd	38	4	9.5
3	Wellington Ph	22	2	11.0
4	Queensland Roar	40	3	13.3
5	CC Mariners	38	2	19.0
6	Newcastle Jets	21	1	21.0
7	Sydney FC	24	0
8	Perth Glory	15	0

[Beejayville]

Re: A League Round 4 Wrap Up CORNERS

	OVERALL
	Team	For	Against
1	Queensland Roar	31	10
2	Melbourne Vict	25	16
3	Wellington Ph	20	13
4	Sydney FC	18	15
5	Adelaide Utd	18	16
6	CC Mariners	17	42
7	Perth Glory	16	19
8	Newcastle Jets	10	24
	HOME
	Team	For	Against
1	Sydney FC	16	12
2	Melbourne Vict	16	9
3	Queensland Roar	14	6
4	Perth Glory	11	16
5	Wellington Ph	10	6
6	Newcastle Jets	5	14
7	CC Mariners	4	9
8	Adelaide Utd	1	6
	AWAY
	Team	For	Against
1	Queensland Roar	17	4
2	Adelaide Utd	17	10
3	CC Mariners	13	33
4	Wellington Ph	10	7
5	Melbourne Vict	9	7
6	Perth Glory	5	3
7	Newcastle Jets	5	10
8	Sydney FC	2	3

[Beejayville]

Re: A League Round 4 Wrap Up UNDER / OVER 2.5 GOALS

Matches involving...		> 2.5 goals	Goals per match
Adelaide Utd	2	2	2.75
CC Mariners	3	1	1.25
Melbourne Vict	3	1	1.5
Newcastle Jets	4	0	1
Perth Glory	3	1	0.75
Queensland Roar	2	2	2.5
Sydney FC	2	2	2
Wellington Ph	1	3	2.75

SCORING TIMES

Minutes	Goals	%
0-15	9	30.00%
16-30	3	10.00%
31-45	3	10.00%
46-60	3	10.00%
61-75	4	13.30%
76-90	8	26.70%

CROWDS

	Team	Average	Highest	Lowest	Total	Capacity	% full
1	Melbourne Vict	29,448	31,545	27,351	58,896	55,000	53%
2	Sydney FC	14,723	18,457	11,491	44,171	41,000	35%
3	Newcastle Jets	13,205	13,267	13,144	26,411	26,000	50%
4	Wellington Ph	13,084	14,421	11,748	26,169	34,500	37%
5	Queensland Roar	12,821	16,828	8,815	25,643	52,000	24%
6	Adelaide Utd	12,231	12,231	12,231	12,231	15,000	81%
7	CC Mariners	9,052	9,052	9,052	9,052	20,000	45%
8	Perth Glory	7,872	8,508	7,203	23,618	18,000	43%

[davidmphill]

Re: A League Round 4 Wrap Up Nice work and plenty of stats to work with BeeJay, great stuff.

[Beejayville]

Re: A League Round 4 Wrap Up Cheers Dave :cheers Least it gives people something to go on so they are not going in blind.

[Beejayville]

Re: A League Round 4 Wrap Up Injury worries for Victory, Mariners Both Melbourne and Central Coast have emerged from their entertaining 0-0 draw at Telstra Dome on Sunday with injury concerns over key attacking players. Victory striker Danny Allsopp was taken to hospital on Sunday night with shortness of breath after suffering a rib injury, while Mariners striker Sasho Petrovski will have x-rays on an ankle he rolled early in the match. Melbourne coach Ernie Merrick said there was some concern over Allsopp, who came off in the final minutes of the match complaining of a sore back and difficulty breathing. Merrick said his immediate concern was with the health of the player, who was taken away from the ground in an ambulance. He said Allsopp usually played through injuries and the coach knew it was serious when the big striker decided to come off the ground. However, the Victory announced on Monday that Allsopp had been released from hospital, although the nature of the injury was yet to be determined. Petrovski lasted just 25 minutes of the game, coming off for Tom Pondeljak soon after falling awkwardly on his ankle. Coach Lawrie McKinna said that the Mariners' recruit was in considerable pain, and that while he expected there was no break, the injury would still be x-rayed. While Petrovski is likely to be fine to take on Perth next week, doubts remain over fellow striker Nik Mrdja, who has had scans on his knee, and missed Sunday's match with soreness. McKinna said it was a worry that a player like Mrdja, who has had a history of knee problems, had pain in that area again. Melbourne and Central Coast already have injury problems. Merrick said Joe Keenan (hamstring) should be ready to resume next week, but Ljubo Milicevic (knee) was still another fortnight away. McKinna has been without Alex Wilkinson (knee), who he said was probably another month away, while Tony Vidmar will be suspended after receiving a straight red card late in the match against Melbourne.

[Beejayville]

Re: A League Round 4 Wrap Up ROUND 5 FIXTURES

Friday 21 September 2007	Newcastle Jets	Vs	Melbourne Victory	8.00 PM	EnergyAustralia Stadium
Saturday 22 September 2007	Wellington Phoenix	Vs	Adelaide United	7.00 PM	Westpac Stadium
Saturday 22 September 2007	Queensland Roar	Vs	Sydney	7.00 PM	Suncorp Stadium
Sunday 23 September 2007	Central Coast Mariners	Vs	Perth Glory	5.00 PM	Bluetongue Stadium

[Beejayville]

Re: A League Round 4 Wrap Up Newcastle vs Melbourne The Jets have beaten Melbourne in their last 3 meetings 1-0,4-0, and 1-0 and in fact in nine games played Newcastle has held Melbourne scoreless on five occasions. Currently the Jets are very solid down back unlike last season's terrible defensive start, and they could be the surprise packet this year. Melbourne have had four draaws and while they haven't really looked like losing too many, they haven't looked like winning too many either. If Danny Allsop doesn't play then it is going to be a tough ask for the Victory to win this game. At this point in time I favour Newcastle but it will more than likely be a draw, and a 0-0 one at that, or perhaps a home win 1-10. Wellington vs Adelaide Home team on fire last week away to Sydney and this is certainly a danger game for Adelaide. The away team have been good on the road this season but they will need nathan Burns back to have a decent chance. Home side are playing solid football and with every week they are getting better and better. Adelaide a re a professional outfit and will take notice of what happened to Sydney last week. One would expect Adelaide to perform as they should and get a win here, but recent form suggest Wellingto is also capable of winning itself, a draw looms a likely result. Queensland vs Sydney Met nine times and Sydney have won 5 of them with four draws, Queensland have only ever beaten Sydney the one time. Last four meetings have seen Sydney win one and three draws. The home side have played good football this season with plenty of shots per game and with the likes of Moore and Tiatto they should only improve. Queensland should be good enough to win this game but don't underestimate Sydney who will be stung by last week's loss to Wellington. Central Coast vs Perth Interesting game as Perth have been very hard to score against and have had three scoreless draws against Sydney, Melbourne at the Dome, and Newcastle, so they are well capable of holding the Mariners to some degree. Head to head Central Coast hold a 6-3-1 record but last time they met at this venue it was a Perth win by 3 goals to 2. The last five meetings has seen Central Coast win 3 and Perth win 2. On form this should be a home win but they have to get the ball into the net against a handy defence on it's day.

[pete]

Re: A League Round 4 Wrap Up Great write ups BJ.:notworthy If Wellington can repeat their performance of last week they would be a good chance for a win as the played some surprisingly good stuff against Sydney. Think your preview of the Mariners/Perth game is spot on, Perth was outplayed at home by the Roar and then nearly snatched a late goal, but think the Mariners are looking good and should have to much class.