Heart win again at the Fortress

Melbourne Heart made it four home wins on the trot as it reinforced the term fortress as they defeated a bland and disappointing Perth Glory 2-0.

Nick Kalmar hit the perfect free kick on 23 minutes, and striker Eli Babalj managed his first goal in his second stint with the club to out the match out of reach for Perth.  Man of the match Kalmar impressed the 6,000 plus Heart crowd with his skill and tenacity and he should be full of confidence for the remainder of the season after playing the full 90 minutes.

As good as Heart were Perth were as bad.  Dean Heffernan’s frustrations throughout the second half showed his former heart crowd that all is not well out in the west.  The substitution of Travis Dodd only after 54 minutes is an indication Fergusson won’t let reputation dictate tactics as Perth try and find a way out of this slump.  Shane Smeltz would have felt he was playing Tuesday night ‘D’ grade with the amount of long balls he was being dished up, someone of his quality can only tolerate this service (or lack of it) for so long.

The team that many say were robbed of the 2011/12 title are a very sorry carcass of that team.  Captain Jacob Burns has struggled with injury throughout the season and with some luck (and a legal jab during the week) he will return against league leaders Central Coast.  Perth need to find that ‘mongrel’ and determined spirit if they are to challenge for the finals this season.

Now back to the team that took the three points and gave renewed hopes to their growing supporter base, Melbourne Heart.  Throughout the season Heart have managed to concede goals at crucial periods of some games and lose much needed points.  Yesterday a hush was over the Yarraside when Perth was on the attack, but I must say the stress levels were lower than usual.  I’m not sure if it was because of the poor level of opposition or some more experience down back in the form of Coyne.

Heart managed to control the game throughout the contest and if Babalj was in form it could’ve been a far greater margin to the Heart.  Garcia and Germano were solid in the midfield and dictated play.  Young Jeremy Walker once again looked comfortable at A-League level, and David Vrankovic gave a good account for himself as a replacement for the injured Simon Colosimo.  Redmayne’s command of the box has improved as his confidence has risen.  Gerhardt has now established himself as a tough competitor and one of Heart’s most important players; he did no damage to this yesterday, and almost bought the house down with a great attacking moment.

It wasn’t all smooth sailing for the Heart, although it was the first game in distant memory where an injury hasn’t played a key part in substitutions.  Our three players on the bench were far too attacking in my opinion; Macallister, Hoffman and Mebrahtu are all very attacking options and wouldn’t have given Aloisi or Foxe any options if required.  The reduced bench makes it hard for coaches tactically, but fortunately we rolled the dice and came up trumps.

The other concerning factor was Coyne’s left foot, it’s not existent.  Once or twice he was caught out on the touchline and opposition coaches will be keen to drill this into their players.

Overall a fantastic day to be a Heart fan and we are back in the top six.  Let’s hope we can break out ‘away’ hoodoo and grab the three points against Newcastle on Friday night.

• Should Melbourne Heart adapt this year’s ‘Fans strip’ as the 2013/14 away strip?  It looked really great yesterday and would make a great alternative to the current ‘sash’ strip.  Heart fans let me know what you think.

• Dutch press are reporting Melbourne Heart have signed defensive midfielder Marcel Meeuwis from VVV-Venlo.  It’s only speculation at this stage but some more cover down back would be well received.

 

 

 

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