Brisbane's Besart Berisha attacks the Perth goal (3news.co.nz)
The Hyundai A-League concluded it's first week of fixtures with a rematch of the last Grand Final: Perth Glory vs Brisbane Roar. If you took in that match about six months back, you remember it being a fairly heated affair. Folks that were wanting more of the same from this match pretty much got their way, as it appears that a heightened rivalry between these two clubs really is on the way.
The match started very wide open and it didn't take long for a certain amount of controversy to brew. In the 3rd minute Perth forward Shane Smeltz went down in the area and both he and the Perth crowd appealed for a penalty. The referee was unmoved and the teams played on. Replay showed that while the defender did come in from behind, there wasn't much if any contact, and it looked like a good non-call.
The Roar would have the first prime chances of the match though, both of them coming off of set pieces. In the 5th minute Erik Paartalu got his head to a Brisbane corner, but couldn't get it on target. Then in the 11th Paartalu got another chance on a free kick and got his header closer, but it still flashed inches wide of the near post.
Perth had their best chance of the first half early on as well. In the 14th minute Smeltz picked up on Brisbane blunder and charged head long into a 1v1 situation with Brisbane 'keeper Michael Theo (as he's known now). Theo came charging out and hit the deck in front of Smeltz, who managed to get some kind of a shot away, but it ended up having little power and rolled wide of the mark. It was great stuff from the Roar shot stopper.
Both teams got their tempers up late in the half as well. In the 35th minute Brisbane's Besart Berisha was fouled near the edge of the penalty area. Berisha went down and the Glory's Liam Miller came in rather late, bascially tripping into the prone Brisbane man, and not really trying to avoid falling on top of him. The Roar's Mitch Nichols took obvious exception to this and charged into the fray, pushing Miller and getting in his face. The referee managed to clear the madness, and gave both Miller and Nichols yellow cards for their trouble. Then, right before the half, Berisha was given a yellow after causing a bit of a ruckus on a Brisbane corner kick. The first half ended with no goals, but a decent few yellow cards.
The fact that it was only week one really began to show itself in the second half, as both teams began to look a little leggy. Chances were few and far between. The yellows kept coming though as both Jacob Burns and Travis Dodd would earn cautions for Perth in the stanza.
The Glory would ultimately have the last laugh this day though. In the 88th minute Scott Jamieson sent a cross into the Roar eighteen, where it found the head of newly subbed in Glory attacker Billy Mehmet. Mehmet executed a brilliant header to the back post, and the ball slotted into the net to give the Glory the 1-0 win. It was pretty much a perfect shot and there wasn't much Theo could do about it.
On the day, the Roar probably felt a little hard done by, as they certainly gave as good as they got on opposing turf. Though they dominated possession, a lot of their play was really sloppy, and they gave the ball up more than a few times. One could also tell that the defense was bending more than it probably should have, though to be fair, in the end they were just beaten by a fantastic football play.
The Glory showed that they're more than ready to stand and go toe to toe with anyone in the A League this year, and they put forth a really great effort, in the end a winning effort. It won't make the fans forget the last Grand Final, but knowing they've started the new season off on 3 points isn't a bad way to begin moving on.
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