|
|
|
Also a report from NZ
[More]
United Grind Out Result A-League Season 2005-06 - Round 13 
 defeated New Zealand Knights FC 0  (Carl Veart on attack - Photo Lino Fusco BOTN)
Adelaide United regained top spot in the A-League after grinding out a 1-0 victory over bottom placed New Zealand Knights.
Adelaide went into the match wanting to break a drought of wins at home. Adelaide had not won a game at Hindmarsh Stadium since beating Melbourne Victory in Round 3 on 9 September 2005.
Goalkeeper Bajic was a last minute change after Adelaide's regular goalkeeper was ruled out due to injury.
Adelaide dominated the match from the kick off taking control of the midfield and pushing the ball wide down the flanks. The first effort on goal was in the 3rd minute. Adelaide's Matthew Kemp hit a 30m drive straight into the arms of New Zealand's goalkeeper Milosevic.
30 seconds later it was Rech's turn to get into the action playing a 1-2 first with Qu and then Pantelis before shooting from just inside the box. His effort was well saved by Milosevic.
Adelaide continued to dominate possession but was finding it difficult to convert possession into opportunities.
In the 27th minute Adelaide's Alagich set up team-mate Dodd out wide who beat his defender then rounded goalkeeper Milosevic only to see his side foot shot cleared near the goal line.
The deadlock was finally broken in the 37th minute. Veart picked out Dodd with a beautiful 50 metre long ball. Dodd crossed the ball into the back post to Qu who buried his header. 1-0 to Adelaide.
The score remained 1-0 at half time. Adelaide's dominance was demonstrated by the match statistics that showed New Zealand had not had a single shot on goal in the first 45 minutes of play.
 (Travis Dodd down the wing - Photo Lino Fusco BOTN)
New Zealand started the second half a little more brightly but before long Adelaide was totally dominant. In the 55th minute Adelaide's Pantelis was brought down out wide earning a free kick. Pantelis hit the free kick into the box only for it to be cleared by the Knights. The clearance went as far as Aloisi on the edge of the box who drove his shot goal wards. The shot took a major deflection into the path of Veart. On an angle, 3 metres out with only the keeper to beat, Veart squandered the opportunity when he drove across the face of goals. Goalkeeper Milosevic had done well to close down the angle and pressure Veart but he should have scored. It was the first chance in a twenty minute spell during which Adelaide should have buried New Zealand.
A minute later Adelaide's Alagich crosses to the back post and Pantelis hits a diving header straight into the arms of goalkeeper Milosevic.
Next it was Pantelis crossing the ball from out wide to the back post and this time Dodd headed the ball wide.
There was a brief respite for New Zealand in the 59th minute when Caravella had the teams first shot on goal for the game. He found himself in space outside the box and drove his 25m effort comfortably over the bar.
A few minutes later New Zealand gave the ball away cheaply in their half and Qu picked out Pantelis unmarked on the edge of the box. Once again Milosevic did well to close down the angle and his save kept New Zealand in the game.
In the 74th minute Aloisi drove a powerful shot goal wards from the edge of the box. Once again it was Milosevic to the rescue as he pulled off another good save and deflected the ball out for a corner. Adelaide took a short corner before crossing the ball into the box. Rech got on the end of the cross and smashed his header into the crossbar - another escape for New Zealand.
New Zealand seemed to sense they had an outside change to snatch a point in the closing ten minutes and increased the pressure on Adelaide. Defender Danny Hay was shifted up front and almost immediately paid a dividend for his team. Hay flicked on a New Zealand throw-in to the unmarked Devine on the 5 yard line at the back post. With only goalkeeper Bajic to beat, Devine smashed his volley straight into the hands of Bajic who deflected the ball wide.
A minute later a New Zealand free kick was hit to the back post and this time it was Zhang that was un-marked. He headed meekly over the bar. Another squandered opportunity.
The two squandered opportunities were the end of New Zealand's brief fight back. At full time the score was 1-0 to Adelaide.
 (Richie Alagich on the ball - Photo Lino Fusco BOTN)
Adelaide will be pleased to have come away with 3 points and regained top spot. While Adelaide dominated the possession for much of the game they failed to kill off New Zealand. Adelaide almost paid the price in the closing minutes when New Zealand should have equalised.
The result also did little in terms of providing entertaining football for the home town fans. For a team that is top of the A-League the crowd of 9,676 is disappointing particularly given the crowd numbers that have been previously achieved in Adelaide given the right formula.
The result was not completely unpleasant for New Zealand. After struggling to be competitive in the first half of the season, New Zealand is starting to find their feet (though still have a lot more work ahead of them). They made top side Adelaide work hard for its victory on its home ground.
Possibly another factor in the tight result is that Adelaide and New Zealand are not dis-similar in playing style. Adelaide has a stronger squad particularly up front with Rech and Qu and it is this quality that won out on the day.
There were several solid performers for Adelaide without any particular player standing out. Valkanis and Costanzo performed well at the back virtually eliminating the New Zealand forward line. Best for New Zealand was Milosevic along with captain Hay. The trio of Costanzo, Valkanis and Hay are probably the best defenders in the A-League.
A-League Season 2005-06 - Round 13 Crowd: 9,676
MATCH STATS:
Adelaide United FC
Coach: John Kosmina
Yellow Cards:
Adam vanDommele 47' New Zealand Knights FC
: Coach: John Adshead
Yellow Cards:
Frank van Eijs 32', Kris Bright 35', Jeremy Brockie 55' Referee: Angelo Nardi 9/10
Pitch: Rating 9/10
Game rating: 5/10
Best Players: Match
Report by Lino Fusco
Disclaimer: The content of this report is the responsibility of the writer. Stats are either as recorded by the writer at the game, or as supplied by FFA, or a mixture - no responsibility can be taken for their compete accuracy although we do strive for that. FFA has not this season accredited any Photographers for BOTN, so any photos used here, if unattributed, are as supplied by FFA and used by permission.
Crafted
lovingly by hand |
