R25 - Mariners V Roar

[ballantyne]

I couldn't be there - away on hols in Eden. Very relieved. Highlights indicated we were lucky, Weemac butchering two. A steadying win but we've still got a lot of improving to do. Mathematical fakyas!

 

[Ancient Mariner]

I couldn't be there - away on hols in Eden. Very relieved. Highlights indicated we were lucky

We were unlucky we did not win by 5. One crossbar, one over and three great saves.

 

[FFC Mariner]

Should have been 4 up by halftime. Bernie butchers a tap in then score such a quality goal....WTF?

Senior players (2 of them) were woeful and Arnie should punt them immediately.

Fitzy was brilliant until he tired.

 

[true believer]

Should have been 4 up by halftime. Bernie butchers a tap in then score such a quality goal....WTF?

Senior players (2 of them) were woeful and Arnie should punt them immediately.

Fitzy was brilliant until he tired.

"keep it simple fitzy"
"then good work fitzy" when he put it over the goal line
i think arnie will have mixed feelings on fitzy
i like the fact we were prepared to shoot

i think there'll be more wagner next week just for wombat.

 

[Mumbles]

Park football at best.
A win is a win although it nearly became a draw when Nichols came on.

The boys look very tired.

 

[FFC Mariner]

What was McBreens excuse for being so shit? He didn't go to Japan.

 

[MrCelery]

Hoping for a choke-free Sunday.

Got my wish! Tough going though.

At least we didn't need.....

 

[Wombat]

I couldn't be there - away on hols in Eden. Very relieved. Highlights indicated we were lucky, Weemac butchering two. A steadying win but we've still got a lot of improving to do. Mathematical fakyas!

Highlights must be shit mate.

We completely dominated them in the first half and had some shocking misses. Probably should have been about a 4.1 win

 

[Wombat]

Should have been 4 up by halftime. Bernie butchers a tap in then score such a quality goal....WTF?

Senior players (2 of them) were woeful and Arnie should punt them immediately.

Fitzy was brilliant until he tired.

I thought Fitzy was very ordinary apart from one fizzing shot he is not a patch on Olly when he starts but always looks good off the bench. Hopefully part of Arnies rotation policy.

 

[Wombat]

I enjoyed the win. And good on the people that came out to the game.

Ryan 7.5. A brilliant save to keep us in front. His post was pretty good too.
Tesco 7. Easily his best knock at rb.
Dutchy. 7 solid and classy.
Ando 6.5. Effective but passing not top draw yet.
Rose 6. Looked insipid tonight.
Fitzy 6. Meh....one nice shot was about it. Not on the same wavelength as Rosey.
Hutcho 6. Yellow card was the highlight.
Monty 7. Decent game....and I appreciated his intelligence in dragging two defenders right giving beanie the change to score.
Weemac 7. Tried hard.
Macca. 7. Loves the f**king woodwork! Worked hard.
Bernie 8. Busy and intelligent. More attacking that normal and we reaped the dividends.

Mom
3pts Bernie
Everyone else can get 1pt.

 

[Forum Phoenix]

Agree with that summary Wombat. We looked tired. But we also still looked very good for spells and showed the quality of our team has not up and disappeared. I thought Mcbreen had his worst opening to a game all season, but improved after about half an hour in and while far form his best game, by the end still had given a solid contribution.

Bernie such a terrific game. Go on son!! One of the highlights of my year watching Berisha eat his dust. Was cackling in my chair. Sainsbury also had an excellent game I thought.

We are a great side. And finishing top 2 for 3 seasons in a row is a hell of an achievement.

Crowd, pretty standard for a Sunday arvo fixture.

Pressure is off now. It's WSW to lose and expect to see them get over SFC. But there are no easy games n the HAL and they are not the obvious winners in either of their next two fixtures. But, the same applies to us.

 

[Stoxxo]

Great to get the win, hopefully gives the boys a bit of confidence back. We dominated the first half and except from some great saves from Theo and a sitter missed by Bernie we should have been 3 nil at the half time.

A few nervy moments in the second half as we tired but all in all we deserved the win.

My prediction WSW lose next week 1-0 to bling, we beat AU 2 - 1 and the scum win the plate for us last round.... cmon you scum!!........

 

[Roy Law]

Mariners back in the Winner’s Circle​

The Mariners ultimately claimed the points, and deservedly so, but this was not a game to stay long in the memory. Bojic was still absent injured otherwise Arnie returned to type with Rose back and Monty, McGlinchey and Ibini all starting; Duke and Bozanic returned to the bench. A blustery wind made good football difficult and both sides were below their best.
Perhaps it was physical tiredness, perhaps it was mental fatigue but the Mariners were sleepwalking in the early stages of this game and the once formidable Brisbane Roar were but a shadow of the great Champions of recent years. In truth the football was pretty ordinary; the Mariners were playing slow patient possession football but constantly came undone with McBreen the missing link; too many times the ball came to him and he misdirected passes away from team mates. Only Bernie Ibini seemed able to shake the mood as he began to take on and beat defenders.
Brisbane took the opportunity to threaten first with Lustica firing just over – Ryan had the shot covered - and then the same player having a go from distance. The Mariners dramatically lifted their game in the 22nd minute: McGlinchey’s volley from McBreen’s headed flick-on being tipped over by Theoklitos – a few inches to the left and it would have been unstoppable. Moments later Rose’s cross was met by the diving Anderson, Theo did well to save but in the ensuing scramble Ibini somehow scooped the ball over the open goal.
Even the usually reliable Mat Ryan was giving the ball away but it was the lively Ibini, atoning for his miss, who provided relief with the kind of goal he often threatens but seldom delivers. Collecting the ball in the area, he shaped to the right, turned left, took a step and then fired a crisp left foot shot past Theoklitos’s despairing fingers. The feeling of relief rippled around the stadium.
Bernie it was who provided the next highlight, his early accurate ball over the top finding the racing Fitzgerald who hooked the ball to the feet of McGlinchey. It was a golden opportunity but a defender and Theoklitos combined to put McGlinchey off and the shot was blocked. Arnie stamped his feet in frustration. To pour salt on the wound McBreen’s header beat the goalkeeper but not the post; the big fellah can’t buy a goal at the moment.
The Mariners went in 1-0 up and while not playing particularly well were clearly the better side and looked likely to go on with it in the second half.
It was at this point that déjà vu kicked in: unfortunately for Roy Law, that is, but fortunately not for the Mariners. A few weeks ago when the Mariners played Brisbane, in Brisbane, I had to stop watching the game at half-time because of a family mini-drama. Today, precisely the same mini-drama occurred and I did not see the second half. From what I have read I didn’t miss much. With the lead only 1-0 I was anxious to know if we had won – because we did not hold on to win in Brisbane - so I was relieved that we did but not impressed by the score.
I don’t normally watch highlights before posting my comments (preferring to enjoy finding out later just how wrong my observations can be ) but on this occasion I did. It seemed we should have had a penalty for hand ball; McGlinchey showed his left peg is only for standing on; and Ryan brilliantly stood up to deny Nyland who also hit the post (although I think Ryan had that covered too).

Ultimately the Mariners dug deep to get what they wanted; they are keeping the Wanderers honest, they are making the beating of Brisbane at Bluetongue a regular occurrence, and they are back in the winner’s circle. There is no doubt the physical effort of recent weeks, the extra burden of midweek games and overseas travel, and the psychological impact of losses has hurt them. This win should lift the spirits and with a week to recuperate I expect them to find the form that deserted them.

It is not clear to me who the MoM should be but I would give it to Bernie whose first half efforts did enough to lift the team when it needed it.

 

[midfielder]

My top three.... Bernie, Trent.... Monty ....

Our constant misses on goal is a concern...

TBH did not see the game as bad as many are making out we held the ball and created heaps of chances ...

What was poor was Macca's first touch passes expecting players to be there .... Rose also gave a lot of ball away...

Now for the bad part ... next week I gonna cheer for the Hackers... and if they and we win ... cheer for the SCUM.... never imagined this ...

 

[midfielder]

Got my wish! Tough going though.

At least we didn't need.....

MrCelery I love your work

 

[BrisRecky]

MrCelery I love your work

thats just fan.bloody-tastic...your a genius Celery

to the game...Bernie was MoM for mine...everybody else looked like they were playing for a draw....at one point I had a flashback of under 6's...you could have thrown a blanket over them they were so clumped together....but they were tired ...although what was Macca's excuse, he cant be tired, he was at Mingara instead of Japan

 

[nebakke]

Got my wish! Tough going though.

At least we didn't need.....

Could we print this out in oversize and pin it to the front of Bay16 maybe? Just as a guide...

 

[priorpeter]

Tifo idea...

 

[nebakke]

but they were tired ...although what was Macca's excuse, he cant be tired, he was at Mingara instead of Japan

Macca has been worrying me a little for a while... Can't remember if I ever raised it on here but, for all his hard work - and I do think there's a lot, it also feels like I spot him, quite often, just watching the ball get passed between defenders, when he could, seemingly, easily pick it up and run with it. In particular, there were a couple of situations in the Sydney game where he just watched a ball, roll past him, a couple of meters off, to go to a Sydney player, knees locked and everything. This disappoints me, in particular because he's found that killer instinct this season... He doesn't have to be a defensive player, that's fine,, but at least try to take the ball away from them please..

 

[MrCelery]

Tifo idea...

That'd be hoot! Wonder if the players would see the funny side of it. Knowing our luck we'd get a penalty and the ball would hit the TIFO sign!