Not for the first time this season, the Glory have dropped points late in a game on the pitch and have got the rumour mill spinning off of it.
When it was revealed yesterday the A-League Men’s coach who allegedly punched a player at training was Ruben Zadkovich, my initial reaction was more of surprise than shock.
Is it too much to ask for one normal season? Or even just half a season, since we’ve already dealt with apparent drama between manager and players only a month ago.
Zadkovich brushed it off with Mark Beevers and Ryan Williams, and he did the same today with Giordano Colli. He said it was overblown, a non-incident resulting from a tangle of legs in a five-a-side training drill.
The club made a statement saying the whole thing was exaggerated and no formal complaint was made to the governing body or the PFA. There’s been no word from Colli as of yet; a statement from him would be the final thing needed to put this story to rest.
Judging from the statements given and what’s happened since the previous incident, I’m of the opinion there is someone spreading gossip in an attempt to disrupt the harmony of the team. Beevers and Williams have started every game since the news of their bust up came out and after reading what Zadkovich said today about Colli, it seems their relationship is very strong.
Let’s hope the incident continues to strengthen the unity of the team. The first bust up began a nice run of three wins in four games for the Glory at the beginning of January, and something similar now could not come at a better time. We’ve played decently but haven’t come away with a win since beating the Victory over a month ago.
It should’ve come to an end last weekend after taking a 2-0 lead against the Mariners. We were fortunate to be in the lead after 20 minutes thanks to a sublime free kick from the returning Salim Khelifi, scoring his first goal for the club.
Central Coast dominated the ball throughout the match, maintaining close to 70% possession throughout the 90 minutes. The absence of Mustafa Amini in midfield was clearly felt more than the absence of Darryl Lachman in defence.
Zadkovich tried to include all his attacking threats in the same side, playing Ryan Williams in the middle with Keegan Jelacic and Luke Bodnar as the holding midfielder. Adam Taggart was awarded his first start since returning to the Glory, partnering up with David Williams.
The first half wasn’t short of chances as the Mariners peppered the Glory goal in the opening 10 minutes, forcing Cameron Cook into action right from the first minute. Following a few below par performances, Cook was back on form making some wonderful saves to deny Beni Nkololo, Brian Kaltak and a curling free kick from James McGarry.
I mentioned the absence of Amini briefly. Without a secondary solid defensive midfielder, the Mariners were able to exploit a lot of open space centrally that wouldn’t have been there if Amini was playing. We also missed his ability to hold possession and play out from defence. Most of the time we attempted to go long, not utilising the central areas.
The second goal comes from a great piece of play by Jordan Elsey. Receiving a pass in his stride, he galloped past his man and found clean space ahead. He eventually played it to Khelifi, whose cross hit the arm of Kaltak and resulting in a penalty. Not to be denied by VAR this time, Khelifi stepped up and slotted it into the corner.
Khelifi was subbed shortly after for Johnny Koutroumbis, and it sparked a shift in the remainder of the match. As soon as we doubled the lead, we went into our shell and it cost us in the final minutes.
Koutroumbis was unlucky to have handballed Jacob Farrell’s effort on goal in the 74th minute. Unsighted and still in the air after jumping for it, it brushed the arm and after a short review, Adam Kersey pointed to the spot. Jason Cummings took his time and although Cook dived the right way, he found the corner to close the gap back down to one.
Not long after, the ball was on the spot again after Aaron McEneff lunged at Christian Theoharous and slightly clipped his heel. It was so frustrating since Theoharous was always going left toward an area of little danger and was searching for contact. Not the greatest return to the side for the Irishman as Cummings once again stood up and put away the penalty, going straight down the middle.
Both teams had chances late on, the best of the bunch being a bullet from Theoharous which cannoned off the post not a minute after Cummings had equalised. Adam Zimarino had a couple of good looks late on but was denied well by Danny Vukovic.
The Mariners will be content with a point which keeps them in second but they could have easily walked away with more. Vukovic and Cummings were solid at both ends and I thought in the midfield battle Josh Nisbet came out on top against Bodnar and against McEneff and Duncan in the second half.
Central Coast played well and showed why they’re currently the best of the rest behind City, but we should’ve gotten the three points after being 2-0 up with 20 minutes left. Nearly a third of our goals conceded this season have come in the last 15 minutes, a bad habit which is costing us in the long run. If we had held on in this game and against the Jets, we would be equal on points with Wellington, Sydney and Newcastle who occupy 5th, 6th and 7th.
The pressure is slowly mounting for wins now that our fixture run is nearly evenly split between home and away games for the rest of the season. The next two are huge, both away against the bottom two sides. Brisbane awaits on Sunday, and it will be their first game under interim coach Nick Green. The new manager bounce is what faces Ruben Zadkovich and his side on the weekend, and we’ll have to be a united front and up for the challenge if we want to avoid slipping further away from the top six battle.
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