Wrapping up Week 2 of the A-League | Thebigtip

So it’s the end of the second week, and finally all teams have kicked off their season. Before I go on, I just want to send a quick congratulations to Nick Riewoldt for possibly the worst seven goal performance in AFL history. Now, more draws seemed to be the order of the weekend, with another three this week bringing the total to seven out of the ten matches played. I managed to watch four matches in full, and I only saw highlights of the Central Coast-Adelaide match. Kicking off with the match of the week:

Wellington Phoenix 3 drew with Gold Coast United 3

What an entertaining match to kick off the round – can’t say I expected it, just look at my preview for proof (a Wellington clean sheet!). Taking the big picture forecast though, and I don’t you can take too much out of the game despite the obvious defensive frailties. There’s not going to be too many games played in that conditions and it was obvious that the players had trouble adjusting. Even so, I think North should come straight back into the Wellington XI for Sigmund. He (Sigmund) was at fault for the first Gold Coast goal by being too weak in the contest, and although he made up for it with the last-ditch tackle on Porter in the second half, I still think he was poor overall.

The turnaround for Gold Coast in the midfield from last week was amazing. They were the team that dominated through the centre this week as opposed to the match against the Roar. I’m big on picking up the little things, and right from the first whistle you could tell Culina was switched on and involving his teammates in the play. He had that mentality that there was no way he was going to let the team lose. It seemed to rub off the most on Smeltz, who played the best game he’s had against Wellington since he moved away. After ten minutes I thought I was a genius for trading Smeltz for Ifill in my fantasy team ... not as much by the time the 90 finished.

The two main reasons to kickstart the Gold Coast comeback was the lack of match fitness and switching off mentally. Gold Coast had the advantage of the match last week which meant they had more left in their legs, and it was also obvious that the Phoenix completely switched off. The commentary team touched on it just before Smeltz scored his second, but it was like Wellington weren’t expecting Gold Coast to run the game out. I doubt they’ll make the same mistake again.

Newcastle Jets 1 drew with Melbourne Heart 1

There was no chance this match was going to live up to the standards of the first match of the double-header, but nevertheless it was still entertaining enough. Newcastle should definitely have taken the three points from the match – they were dominant for the majority of the 90, save for a few brief periods of Heart control.

For the Heart, Worm was still hopeless. He couldn’t nail a decent pass at all until the delightful through ball assisting Kantarovski for the goal. I may have mentioned it last week in the wrap-up, but with the other players I can at least see what they’re trying to do when they have time on the ball. Worm looks like he has no idea what he should be doing when he takes possession.

Bolton should definitely have saved the goal from Brockie that put Newcastle into the lead. Forget Harper in the commentary box making excuses for him, it was a definite goalkeeping error and luckily for the Heart it didn’t cost them the three points. It’s hard to be too harsh on him though, because he had an excellent first half and made some great saves to keep the scores level.

It’s the second week in a row I’m going to sing his praises, but I thought Bridges was excellent again. He’s just as good off the ball as he is on the ball with the way he directs the play around him. It seems like the words he had with Jesic last week were more in a positive vein as he started again this week in front of Haliti again. Culina must have a lot of faith in him given that Haliti was one of Newcastle’s best last season.

North Queensland 2 defeated Sydney FC 1

My first impression while watching the game was that Danning was unlucky not to get the start over Grant. After watching the whole 90 minutes my final impression was that the Sydney line-up was completely wrong. Here’s what I would have changed:

- Ryall-Keller CB pairing with Foxe on the bench, moving Cole into RB

- No Brosque playing up front by himself, I would have had Danning starting alongside him

And finally,

- Making 100% sure Foxe is not starting

Join Betfair now for your $50 risk free bet?