Australian A-League - 8th/9th/10th September

[Napoleon Solo]

08 Sep 11:00	Adelaide United v Newcastle Jets		1.90	3.20	3.50
09 Sep 10:00	Central Coast Mariners v Queensland Roar		2.20	3.20	2.80
10 Sep 01:30	New Zealands Knights v Melbourne Victory		4.20	3.25	1.72
10 Sep 08:00	Perth Glory v Sydney		2.20	3.20	2.80

[Napoleon Solo]

Adelaide United v Newcastle Jets

Having been beaten in their first game of the season by an impressive Melbourne Victory side, Adelaide travelled to New Zealand hoping to get their season up and running against a Knights side which hadn't shown much progress since last seasons dismal efforts. However, a combination of a resolute New Zealand team, a patchy playing surface and a wonder strike from Malik Buari condemned Adelaide to their second defeat of the season. I'm sure it didn't help that Adelaide had also played seven of their eight cup and league games away from home this season, the fatigue from constant travelling was sure to catch up in the end.

Adelaide now have their first home game of the season, and will be looking forward to having their supporters cgheering the team on at the Hindmarsh stadium. Dutch winger Bobby Petta is to finally make his debut in this game, having missed the first two games due to visa problems, although he'll more than likely start from the bench. Attacking midfielder Fernando and striker Shengqing Qu have both regained their match fitness, Qu likely to partner Carl Veart upfront yet again. The only new absentee for Adelaide will be experienced defender Michael Valkanis, who pulled up with an injury in the game against New Zealand. It's a bit of a blow for Adelaide, but Angelo Costanzo should be a more than adequate replacement.



Newcastle started their season with a draw away at New Zealand and, despite a marked improvement in their performance, failed to stop a so far impressive Queensland in their last game. They had their chances to win the game, but a combination of poor defending and missed chances ultimately led to their downfall. A whole host of injuries hardly helped their chances of getting something from this game, but they played well all things considered.

Newcastle continue to be without some of their more experienced and key players for this game, Craig Deans is out for the season, Jobe Wheelhouse and Jade North are still missing. Newcastles striking options hardly get any easier either with Milton Rodriques still not having arrived in the country and Joel Griffiths being suspended.



With their return to Hindmarsh, the inclusion of Bobby Petta in the squad and the return to full fitness of Qu and Fernando, Adelaide should be well up for this game. Newcastles improved performance in their last game was promising, but their away performances tend to be more about keeping a solid backline and trying not to get beat. With the players they're missing and a young squad (only two of their players are over 24) I don't think they'll be able to hold out against an Adelaide team coming back to their best! 2 points on Adelaide at 2.00 for me!


Bet: 2 points on Adelaide @ 2.00

[Napoleon Solo]

I'll post a more detailed preview later, but after Perths great display the against CC Mariners, they welcome back first choice 'keeper Petkovic and young striker Saric. They'll still miss striker Despotovski, but they showed against the Mariners that they can cope without him.

Sydney have a whole host of missing players to contend with. Captain and defender Mark Ruden is suspended after his sending off in the last match, midfielders Rob Middleby and David Carney were both injured in the previous match and with Alex Brosque and Jacob Timpano also both injured it leaves Sydney short of numbers in defense and midfield. Add to that the departure of last seasons most influential player Dwight Yorke and Sydney have real problems. One positive is that midfielder Ruben Zadkovich has recovered from an ankle injury, unfortunatley for Sydeny he missed all of the pre-season, is far from match fit and will more than likely have to be used in some capacity during the match.

Perth are currently available at 2.30 at BlueSq/Gamebookers. I'm expecting that to drop closer to kick off. 3 points for me already!

[A.M.P]

I'll have some of that then Rockin.

GL with your bets and keep up the good work.

[A.M.P]

Well, I'd like to have some of that bet but blue sq is "unavailable".

WTF is up with gambling websites at the moment????

[kompressaur]

I dont get around enough to comment AMP as i cant be bothered opening accounts. sad really. Ive a bluesq one. They still the same price?

Good luck on Adelaide Rockin. Regarding points how many would it be out of? :waveyhands 2/5? 2/10? I'll have some if your on 2/5 Rockin as i could do with a bet to keep me awake.

[Napoleon Solo]

Do BlueSq not have a price? I dunno, just checked on the oddschecker website last night! Rubbish!

Komp, my bets are all out of 10. Probably not enough to keep you awake, eh? Good luck with it though!

[Napoleon Solo]

Adelaide United 5 - 1 Newcastle Jets

Adelaide showed what they're capable of here, blowing apart the Newcastle team with a superlative performance. It was clear from the first few minutes that Adelaide were in control of this match, while the Newcastle defence looked lost and not quite sure what was happening. It took just eight minutes for a rejuvinated Fernando Rech to volley Adelaide into the lead, fullback Robert Cornthwaite made it two after heading in a Ross Aloisi freekick just nine minutes later. Shengqing Qu then hit a superlative freekick on 27 minutes to all but end the match as a contest.

Adelaide started the second half quite sloppily, conceding a goal from Mark Bridge after a well weighted through ball. Newcastle almost got back into the game when United 'keeper Robert Bajic was left one-on-one with an opponent, but he managed to keep the ball out of the net. A silly defensive error then let in Shengqing Qu for his second of the game, before Fernando Rech was set-up by new recruit Bobby Petta on 73 minutes for Adelaide's fifth.

So, a polished performance from United, with Rech, Qu and Petta (on as a 2nd half substitute) all looking particularly impressive. The Jets looked disorientated and disheveled and will need to improve when they travel to Sydney in the next round.

Bets: 11 points
Returns: 16.02 points
Profit: 5.02 points

[Napoleon Solo]

Central Coast Mariners v Queensland Roar

After an opening day defeat at the much fancied Sydney, The Mariners travelled to Perth hoping to kick-start their season. The first half was a pretty even affair, but Perth took control of the game in the second half, Stan Lazaridis and Leo Bertos proving highly dangerous down the flanks. Though both teams missed key players, it was the Mariners who seemed to suffer the most with the loss of influential midfielder Andre Gumprecht, promising striker Nick Mrdja and the so-far fleeting substitiute apperances of Tom Pondeljak.

With Tom Pondeljak having got a bit of game time behind him in the last two games, coach Lawrie McKinna may be tempted to pair him upfront with Stewart Petrie, who returned from injury last weekend. The Mariners have a terrible record when Pondeljak has been missing from the starting eleven, having won just one of the seven matches he missed. The Mariners are further boosted by the return of midfielders Andre Gumprecht and John Hutchinson, who both missed the Perth defeat. However, midfielder Damian Brown and vetran defender Andrew Clark will both sit out the game through injury.



After beginning the season with a hard-working performance in a 3-0 home win over the Perth Glory, Queensland travelled to a Newcastle side that had performed dissapointingly in an away draw at the New Zealand Knights. However the Jets picked themselves up and put in a great performance at home, constantly pushing Queensland and perhaps rather undeservingly losing the game. However, it was another very good performance from a Queensland team that were only missing midfield playmaker Marcus Wedau.

Queensland welcome back Marcus Wedau for this match, but are set to be without defender Stuart McLaren, which could be a big blow. McLaren was an ever present at the back last season, missing just 136 minutes of football all season. Youngster Ben Griffin is an able replacement, but it leaves Queensland with a lack of experience in the centre of defence.



I'm struggling to actually find a bet that I like for this match. The Mariners are yet to win a game and are struggling to score, but the return to fitness of Pondeljak, Gumprecht and Hutchinson will provide a timely boost. However, Queensland have won their two games so far, have been prolific infront of goal and have a virtually fully-fit squad, the only reason to oppose them being the loss of Stuart McLaren at the back. The value call is definitely with the Queensland Roar at 2.80, but I'll not be folloing them this time. No bet for me!

[Napoleon Solo]

New Zealand Knights v Melbourne Victory
(0130 Kickoff)


The first game of the season looked to be much of the same for the Knights, a disappointing performance at home to the Newcastle Jets, but their second game was far more promising. The Knights dominated the home game against this seasons minor cup champions Adelaide. They created by far the most chances, only a bout of poor finishing stopped the stop being more emphatic, and restricted Adelaide to pot-shots from long range.

New Zealand continue to miss influential trio Noah Hickey, Dani Rodriguez and Matt Carbon, but they've so far coped well without them having not yet conceded a goal. New signing Franco Parisi will not yet be drafted into the squad as coach Paul Nevin looks to keep some consistency in his side, something that was lacking under previous manager John Adshead. This means Sean Devine is likely to start upfront again, with Jonti Richter playing just behind him.



After Melbourne got their season off to a great start over perenial bogey-team Adelaide, they then faced another tough game in last seasons champions, Sydney. In what was a closely fought game, Melbourne started the brighter taking an early two-goal lead, before Sydney were reduced to ten men. However, Sydney put up a spirited fight, reduced the deficit and were perhaps unlucky not to equalise. However, a mistake from the Sydney defence allowed Melbourne to extend their lead and, despite a late second for Sydney, they came away with all three points.

Ernie Merrick will continue with much of the same side that have performed so well in the first two games. Allesandro keeps his place in the squad, despite having limped out of the last game and having not trained all week. However, another Brazilian import, striker Fred, will miss out having been found guilty of misconduct during the week and hence suspended.


Another no bet here, the second of the weekend! Melbourne should win this, truth be told, but I'm yet to be entirley convinced about how far the Knights have progressed under manager Paul Nevin. They certainly looked quite sharp in their last game and could cause Melbourne some problems. Their attacking options are far from ideal though, I really don't rate Shaun Devine, though I would have been delighted to have taken NZ Knights to win this had Rodriquez and Hickey been available and fit. Under 2.5 @ 1.83 could be a decent bet, but I'm personally not a big officionado of such bets so I'm going to leave it. No bet for me!

[Napoleon Solo]

Perth Glory v Sydney United

I said I'd do a proper preview for this game, but I think I've provided the core info in the post above (post #3).

I'm putting 3 points on Perth @ 2.30

[kompressaur]

Just got on at 6/5 at 10 to 8 Rockin

[Napoleon Solo]

Good luck Komp!

Well done with your trebles yesterday as well, truly superb!