Roar Review – Round 16
It was a disappointing trip to Melbourne last week for the Roar as the Victory bounced back to form with a 4-0 win over the league leaders.
While the damage was largely self inflicted for the Roar, it did expose some failings in the league leaders which John Aloisi’ side will be hoping to rectify this week against Adelaide.
Brisbane have struggled for goals without their Olyroo trio in the line-up, and now things will get even tougher with Jean Carlos Solórzano set to miss an extended period of time with a thigh strain. That likely opens the door for in form Youth striker Nicholas D’Agostino to make his second appearance of the campaign, while at the back Corey Brown will replace the suspended Shane Stefanutto, with Jerome Polenz coming onto the bench.
Adelaide meanwhile arrive in Brisbane as one of the league’s in form teams on the back of a seven game unbeaten run, which has seen them catapult from the bottom of the table to the top six. The Reds have a settled side at the moment and will be boosted by the return of goalkeeper Eugene Galekovic and defender Jordan Elsey. New signing and ex Roar striker Sergio van Djik wasn’t named in the squad and wont be available for the visitors.
When these two sides met in round 4 it was a convincing 3-0 win to Brisbane, however since then the Reds have played some much better football and it promises to be a much tighter contest this time around.
Olyroos
Meanwhile away on National Team duty Brisbane’s three representatives in the Olyroos squad have been busy over the past weekend. Both James Donachie and Jamie Maclaren have started the teams’ three group games, with both scoring in the 2-0 win over Vietnam, while Brandon Borrello started the second and third games after being an unused sub in the first.
Despite the Olyroos participation in the AFC U/23 Championships now being over after a third placed finish in Group D, its unlikely the trio will return to A-League action this weekend.
W-League
Finally, it’s Semi-Final weekend in the W-League with Brisbane travelling to Melbourne to take on undefeated Premiers Melbourne City for a spot in the Grand Final on Monday evening.
In the two meetings this season, City have won both games with a 4-0 win in Melbourne in Round 5 before City clinched the Premiership on the Gold Coast 1-0 in round 9. That 4-0 win in round 5 however is something of an outlier, with the sides deadlocked at 0-0 after an hour before Roar defender Ruth Blackburn was sent off which left City to run riot in the final third of the match.
Brisbane’s task however will be even greater with influential midfielder Katrina Gorry set to miss out due to a one game suspension for yellow cards. Kick-off is set for 4.30pm Queensland time, with the game being shown live on Fox Sports.
Youth
The 2015-16 National Youth League season concludes this weekend with Conference Champions Adelaide and Sydney meeting in the Grand Final in Gosford.
Brisbane’s NYL season came to a conclusion last week in Melbourne, with the Roar running out 5-1 winners in their season finale. Young striker Nick D’Agostino was again the standout for the Roar and looks to be the leader of an exciting young crop of players.
Brisbane ended up finishing 2nd in Conference A, three points behind winners Adelaide. The Roar youth side now have a few weeks off before embarking upon their NPL Queensland campaign over the winter months.
Google+