Qld Roar 3 Sydney FC 1

I went with some friends to the A-League game between Queensland Roar & Sydney FC this past Saturday evening at Suncorp Stadium. The match was ok - not spectacular, but not horrible, either. Qld Roar won rather handsomely 3-1, courtesy of a hat-trick from Dutch import Sergio Van Dijk, to make it a happy evening for the home crowd happy.

The win gave Roar some hope of finishing in the top 2, but it ended Sydney FC's season, as the visitors needed to win to have a chance of getting into the playoffs. To be fair, Sydney could consider themselves unlucky to have lost. They started the match well, & looked the better side in the opening stages. Even though they went a goal down in the 15th minute, Sydney continued to pass the ball better than Qld, & deservedly got the equaliser 10 minutes later. But just 2-3 minutes after that, Qld somehow managed to regain the lead with Van Dijk getting his second to make it 2-1 to the Roar. As the game progressed, Sydney's game dropped a little, & both sides eventually became evenly matched. There were no further goals, until Van Dijk completed his hat-trick in the last minute of the match with a well-taken goal.

Thank goodness the Roar had Van Dijk. I'm not convinced the Roar could have won this match without him, as I could see Sydney FC getting at least a draw if Van Dijk was not playing. Sydney FC fielded quite a number of youngsters for this match. I take this to be a sign that the Sydney coach Kosmina had little faith in his side's ability to win this match with his more experienced players; he probably thought he might as well chuck in some youngsters to give them experience for the future. Nevertheless, I thought that Sydney's youngsters gave a good impression of themselves. I feel sorry for them that they lost - certainly the 3-1 scoreline is very harsh on them. A draw would have been a fair result, as there were moments (especially in first half) where Sydney showed better technique & better passing than the Roar. If Sydney can keep this young side together, then with some decent player additions, they will definitely be a serious threat next season. Whether they will have Kosmina in charge next season looks doubtful after failing to make this season's playoffs - that despite the promising youngsters they currently have.

As for the Roar, this result is certainly more impressive than the performance. The scoreline flattered them; I don't think there was any point in this match which they could claim they were truly in control, certainly not enough to warrant the 3-1 result. While it is good to be able to win by a good margin without playing that well, they must improve on this showing if they are to make an impact in the playoffs.