Qld Roar draws first home game of season

Played 2, draw 2, goals scored 2 goals conceded 2. Twos all around. That's the ledger for Queensland Roar after the first 2 rounds of the new 2008/09 A-League season.

The Roar's first game in of the season was a 1-1 away to Wellington last week, where reports suggested they were the better team but not able to put away some good chances. Sounds familiar?

Then this evening, in their first home game of the season (at Suncorp Stadium), the Roar got another 1-1 draw. The opponents were Adelaide United. From Roar's perspective, the first half was awful. The Roar conceded an early penalty, in the 8th minute, when defender McCloughlan gave away a needless & reckless foul. Travis Dodd converted the penalty to put Adelaide a goal up. For much of the rest of the first half, the Roar were absolutely atrocious. They had a great chance to equalise in the 43rd minute - Smits had a shot saved, then he got the rebound & passed to Miller whose shot seemed certain to hit the net but was kept out by an Adelaide player. So frustrating, & not just those misses either. Me & my friends just sat there during the first half, watching in frustration as Roar continued to be sluggish, misplace their passes & made minimal penetration. I asked myself, did I actually miss our church congregational dinner to watch this? Put it simply, the Roar were a useless bunch of potatoes in the first half. And what would u do with such spuds? You give em a good roasting.

Farina might have done just that at half time, because the Roar came out from the half-time break a different side, with Reinaldo & Zullo coming on as substitutes. Withing 2 minutes of the restart, the Roar drew level through some good play. Seo brought the ball forward, passed to Van Dijk who cleverly back-heeled the ball to Miller who slotted home to make it 1-1. Why can't they do that more consistently? After the equaliser, Adelaide never looked like winning. If anything, Queensland looked more likely winners, as they played with purpose & urgency to try to take the lead. Unfortunately, it wasn't to be, & so they had to settle for a share of the spoils.

On the whole, while not fantastic, the draw against Adelaide wasn't a disaster either. At least Queensland came back in the second half, & that at least gives them something to build on. We're only 2 games into the season, & there's plenty more to play for. Next up is Central Coast Mariners next Sunday, same kick-off time (5pm). Ex-Socceroo goalkeeper Mark Bosnich will play for the Mariners. His presence is likely to boost the attendance at Suncorp Stadium. I'm not sure whether I will be going to the game. Regardless of my presence or otherwise, come on you Roar!

PS: After the game, Terence, Catherine, Mark (who replaced BT who's sick) & myself had dinner at Jackpot Noodles in Toowong. I ordered the beef strips with Peking sauce & rice, plus passionfruit green tea. The beef strips with Peking sauce is ok, but not as nice as it used to be. Never mind that, the dish now cost $1 more. Sheeshhh, they expect us customers to pay more for less.....not a happy thought.