After the Victory weathered the first twenty minutes of intense pressure by the Roar I was fairly confident that we would take out the three points as the Roar looked bereft of ideas in attack. Also our attacking triumvirate was looking extremely dangerous and Ney Fabiano was immense and didn’t look like he had just sat out the last six weeks. Maybe there was also sense of having to prove himself to both the team and the fans after such a long lay off.

Another standout was Billy Celeski whose pinpoint cross lead to the only goal for the game. He was dominant in the fifteen to twenty minutes leading up to the goal and capped it off with that cross. He has really raised his level in the last two weeks when the really needed someone in the midfield to really stamp themselves on the game.

The Victory can go into the mid season break feeling pretty happy with their position on the table considering the number of suspensions that have been accrued on the way. It has been good in recent times that the team has been a lot more disciplined of late and even their yellow card count is down. With this year’s competition being one of the closest, they can’t afford to slip up as they chase the title

Earlier in the day I went and watched the Victory women triumph over Perth Glory 3-0 which sees them sitting third on the ladder with two wins out of three matches, equal on points with both Sydney and Adelaide. This is also the subject of my latest au.fourfourtwo.com blog post, which can be found here.

On another note, as part of Movember, I will be trying my best to grow some bad facial hair. If you want help me raise some money for a good cause, please feel free to donate here or you can just visit mospace page. I promise I will post some photos as it progresses.

On another note, the Victory ladies are taking on Sydney this weekend in their second W-League match. Will be a tough gig away from home with the arch enemy having a strong squad and are firm favourites along with Queensland Roar to challenge for the inaugral W-League title.

In other news the good people at Four Four Two have seen it in their hearts to give me an opportunity to also blog on their website as well. I have got the Monday morning gig and you can check out my first post about the Victory’s ill discipline here. It might mean there will be a few less posts here, but I won’t let it slip too much.

Melissa Barbieri
Nicole Paul
Megan Archer
Daniela Digiammarco
Maika Ruyter-Hooley
Marlies Oostdam
Laura Alleway
Bronwyn Nutley
Stephanie Tanti
Tal Karp
Louisa Bisby
Ursula Hughson
Sophie Hogben
Selin Kuralay
Rebecca Tegg
Brittany Timko
Alisha Foote
Deanna Niceski
Sarah Groenewald
Enza Barilla

Emergencies:
Ashley Brown
Stephanie Catley
Brianna Davey

Coach: Matt Shepherd
Ass Coach: Bill Murray
Team Manager: Naomi Hirst

First game is this coming weekend against the Central Coast Mariners as a curtain raiser to the Melbourne vs Sydney A-League match. So get there a little early and support our team.

To put it simply, the Victory came across a team that responded to a week of heat from their coach. They were more hungry and for long periods of the game dominated all aspects of the match. The absence of Lopez from the Victory enabled the Jets to dominate this area of the pitch and Hernandez struggled without his fellow countryman, being constantly double and triple teamed.

The red card for Thompson, will surely be the talking point of this match. Clearly frustrated by the lack of opportunities provided to him and the fouling when he did get the ball, he snapped when Breeze failed to call a foul. Breeze, who always seems to be at the centre of controversy, had no hesitation in bringing out the fourth red card in five matches for the Victory. Probably a bit harsh in my opinion, a yellow and a talking to would have sufficed.

Merrick has finally admitted that the team does have an issue with discipline. Constant red cards are slowly bringing down what was a promising start to the season and is costing us in important matches, especially the upcoming match in what will be a top of the table clash against Sydney.

On a brighter note, the Melbourne Youth team picked up their first every win in their inaugral season, with Matthew Theodore (who impressed me in his time with the AIS) scoring the only goal. I wonder if Ernie, will bring in Nathan Elasi from the youth team to replace the suspended Thompson.