Hyundai A-League 06-07 Season Round 3, 4 & 5 Wrap-up

I havent been able to update the blog for the last few weeks because my computer broke and only now have I got a new one. I will now review the 12 action-packed games that have taken place since my last entry so bear with me. Round 3 began with Adelaide United lifting themselves off the bottom place by scoring 3 goals in the first 30 minutes against the Newcastle Jets to soar to a 5 - 1 thrashing. Queensland Roar were able to draw 0 - 0 against Central Coast at home despite last season's runners-up trying to kickstart their campagin. In what was expected to be an intriguing match between 2nd and 3rd turned out to be a whitewash with Melbourne Victory slamming home 3 first half goals to beat the New Zealand Knights 3-0 at home. Perth Glory secured a 1-1 draw at home against Sydney FC to cap off the round.

The fourth round began with memories of the Knights' last season surfacing after Queensland impressively thrashed them 5 - 0 at Suncorp Stadium to remain undefeated. Adelaide continued their resurgence by cruising to a 3 - 0 home win over Perth. New Colombian signing: Milton Rodriguez come off the bench to score 2 goals for the Newcastle Jets and produce a 2-2 draw against Sydney FC at Aussie Stadium. Melbourne Victory continued their perfect start to the season by again winning and defeating the Central Coast Mariners.

The fifth round began with Sydney FC finally able to secure their second win with a well-fought 1-0 win over the New Zealand Knights in Auckland. Queensland Roar and Adelaide United had an exciting 0-0 draw. Central Coast were finally able to score a goal but victory eluded them as Newcastle's Joel Griffiths scored a late goal for a 1-1 draw. Melbourne Victory continued their 100% start to the season with a 2-1 win over Perth Glory, the late Perth goal not denting the Victory's hopes.
That is the last 3 rounds in a nutshell. Now here are some interesting observations

• Melbourne Victory has won all their first 5 games yet last season were the last team to actually get a win - even behind New Zealand Knights! (Victory also only won 7 games last season)
  
• Melbourne Victory captain Kevin Muscat, traditionally a defender is now leading the A-League goalchart with 4 goals in 5 matches (only one of which was not a penatly :) )
  
• New Zealand Knights have conceded 9 goals in the last 3 matches without scoring one in return. It seems not alot has changed since last season...
• Newcastle Jets and the Central Coast Mariners are the two teams yet to record a win in the new season despite both finishing 4th and 3rd respectively last season

Round 6's highlight match will be that of one between Melbourne Victory and Queensland Roar at Telstra Dome. Both sides are the only undefeated sides so far this season and Melbourne Victory has a 100% winning record thus far. This could prove to be a exciting match and a large crowd is practically guranteed with the two most entertaining - as well as the most successful this season - teams playing head to head. Even if Melbourne loses however, they will still hold no.1 spot so far their lead over the rest of the teams has now become. I look foward to it!


ROUND 3:

Adelaide United - 5
Fernando '8 '73, Robert Cornthwaite '19, Shengqing Qu '28, Andrew Durante (OG) '65
Newcastle Jets - 1
Mark Bridge '52

Central Coast Mariners - 0
Queensland Roar - 0

New Zealand Knights - 0
Melbourne Victory - 3
Daniel Allsopp '9, Archie Thompson '22, Kevin Muscat '35

Perth Glory - 1
Jamie Coyne '71
Sydney - 1
Sasho Petrovski '38


ROUND 4:

Queensland Roar - 5
Matt McKay '6 '85, Reinaldo (pen) '55, Simon Lynch '71, Ante Milicic '80
New Zealand Knights - 0

Adelaide United - 3
Fernando '14, Travis Dodd '34, Jamie Coyne (OG) '50
Perth Glory - 0

Sydney - 2
Steve Corica (pen) '33, David Zdrilic '38
Newcastle Jets - 2
Milton Rodriguez '45+1, '62

Melbourne Victory - 1
Archie Thompson '52
Central Coast Mariners - 0


ROUND 5:

New Zealand Knights - 0
Sydney - 1
Mark Rudan '58

Queensland Roar - 0
Adelaide United - 0

Central Coast Mariners - 1
John Hutchinson '12
Newcastle Jets - 1
Joel Griffiths '84

Perth Glory - 1
David Tarka '90+2
Melbourne Victory - 2
Adrian Caceres '55, Kevin Muscat (pen) '72