quentinGold Coast United vs Melbourne Victory
February 2nd 2010 10:08
Last Friday night was an extraordinary night. It was a clash between 2 A-League (Australian Soccer) teams who were sitting 1st and 3rd on the ladder. It was Gold Coast United hosting Melbourne Victory.
I settled into this game knowing that Archie Thompson was out injured but I was confident of a good showing. Unfortunately I was left seething and very angry by certain things that occured.
The first 10 minutes were fantastic. Both teams played football and it was genuinely exciting to watch. It was end to end stuff and this left me in anticipation of further goals to come.
Then the moment came which transformed the game from brilliant to ugly, and my mood from relaxed, to absolutely seething.
The ball was at the Gold Coast end of the field and all of the sudden my eyes were diverted to the halfway line where Steve Pantelidis (Gold Coast) and Robbie Kruse (Melbourne) were tussling. I saw then both grabbing each other and Kruse hitting Pantelidis shoulder to get away from him and then Pantelidis floored Robbie Kruse with an elbow to the back of the head and fell on him.
It was assault. It was gutless and it was a cowards act.
Naturally Kevin Muscat (Melbourne skipper) was in there defending Kruse and I expected a sending off. Nothing happened. I was seething in anger and disgust at the incompetence of the referee and fourth official.
From that point on, my mood became even more sour. Pantelidis was finally booked. Fouls started being called and the game was becoming dirtier.
Then another flashpoint came.
Kevin Muscat had the ball in defence and passed back to Mitchell Langerak. As he passed the ball, he swung an elbow backwards and it connected with Jason Culina. Words were exchanged and again, no action was taken.
Half-time finally came and it was 0-0.
Naturally I used the half-time break to seethe about Pantelidis' behaviour but also to get in quick with a facebook group. So in 2 minutes, I was able to create the Steve Pantelidis is a Dog Group. It currently has 76 members and I gotta say, it's a good turn out considering it was a scum act.
So the second half started and with every passing minute I was becoming more and more concerned. Melbourne were sitting back deeper and deeper and yet Gold Coast couldn't score. Referee Chris Beath was booking players left, right and center and it was ugly. Finally Zenon Caravella (Gold Coast) decided the game with a super strike in the 76th minute. It was more than the game deserved and the game went to an end and Gold Coast winning 1-0 and drawing level with Melbourne at the top of the league.
Now I just gotta say that I am disgusted by a great number of things here.
1. Gold Coast hyprocracy. Last week Jason Culina was coming out and criticising the Central Coast Mariners for playing rough and then his team does exactly the same to Melbourne. Hyprocrasy overload.
2. Miron Bleiberg. Good for a comment by my god does he lack commonsense. Having the cheek to say that Pantelidis was targeted is an absolute disgrace considering what he did to Kruse.
3. The targetting of Robbie Kruse. This isn't the first time it's happened this season but without a doubt, this is the most serious incident I've come across in quite a long time.
4. Melbourne's performance was an absolute disgrace and it's fair to say that the game turned the moment Kruse went off injured.
5. Shane Smeltz's unsavoury standing on Langarek's face. Granted this was an accident as Langarek dived for the ball at his feet but I don't believe that Smeltz made a genuine effort to avoid contact either. Cannot believe that there was no action taken in this reagrd.
6. Chris Beath's performance as referee. I'm sorry, I'm sure he is considered a top referee in Australia but no way in hell does he deserve access to the big matches (Sydney vs Melbourne, Gold Coast vs Melbourne, Gold Coast vs Sydney etc). His performance was an absolute shambles and in all honesty, was a contributing factor to the bitterness on the field.
There was a postscript to this match with the folllowing announced:
Steve Pantelidis was slapped with a 5 match ban (too lenient in my eyes) however Gold Coast are appealing claiming the punishment was too harsh (Personally should've got 10 minimun).
Kevin Muscat was slapped with a 2 match ban (Probably 1 match too many) ad Melbourne are appealing as they desire to have him available for the encounter with Sydney FC on Valentines Day.
Honestly, I've never been more disgusted by a match in my life and this is one night I'm not proud of the game
I settled into this game knowing that Archie Thompson was out injured but I was confident of a good showing. Unfortunately I was left seething and very angry by certain things that occured.
The first 10 minutes were fantastic. Both teams played football and it was genuinely exciting to watch. It was end to end stuff and this left me in anticipation of further goals to come.
The ball was at the Gold Coast end of the field and all of the sudden my eyes were diverted to the halfway line where Steve Pantelidis (Gold Coast) and Robbie Kruse (Melbourne) were tussling. I saw then both grabbing each other and Kruse hitting Pantelidis shoulder to get away from him and then Pantelidis floored Robbie Kruse with an elbow to the back of the head and fell on him.
It was assault. It was gutless and it was a cowards act.
Naturally Kevin Muscat (Melbourne skipper) was in there defending Kruse and I expected a sending off. Nothing happened. I was seething in anger and disgust at the incompetence of the referee and fourth official.
From that point on, my mood became even more sour. Pantelidis was finally booked. Fouls started being called and the game was becoming dirtier.
Then another flashpoint came.
Kevin Muscat had the ball in defence and passed back to Mitchell Langerak. As he passed the ball, he swung an elbow backwards and it connected with Jason Culina. Words were exchanged and again, no action was taken.
Half-time finally came and it was 0-0.
Naturally I used the half-time break to seethe about Pantelidis' behaviour but also to get in quick with a facebook group. So in 2 minutes, I was able to create the Steve Pantelidis is a Dog Group. It currently has 76 members and I gotta say, it's a good turn out considering it was a scum act.
So the second half started and with every passing minute I was becoming more and more concerned. Melbourne were sitting back deeper and deeper and yet Gold Coast couldn't score. Referee Chris Beath was booking players left, right and center and it was ugly. Finally Zenon Caravella (Gold Coast) decided the game with a super strike in the 76th minute. It was more than the game deserved and the game went to an end and Gold Coast winning 1-0 and drawing level with Melbourne at the top of the league.
Now I just gotta say that I am disgusted by a great number of things here.
1. Gold Coast hyprocracy. Last week Jason Culina was coming out and criticising the Central Coast Mariners for playing rough and then his team does exactly the same to Melbourne. Hyprocrasy overload.
2. Miron Bleiberg. Good for a comment by my god does he lack commonsense. Having the cheek to say that Pantelidis was targeted is an absolute disgrace considering what he did to Kruse.
3. The targetting of Robbie Kruse. This isn't the first time it's happened this season but without a doubt, this is the most serious incident I've come across in quite a long time.
4. Melbourne's performance was an absolute disgrace and it's fair to say that the game turned the moment Kruse went off injured.
5. Shane Smeltz's unsavoury standing on Langarek's face. Granted this was an accident as Langarek dived for the ball at his feet but I don't believe that Smeltz made a genuine effort to avoid contact either. Cannot believe that there was no action taken in this reagrd.
6. Chris Beath's performance as referee. I'm sorry, I'm sure he is considered a top referee in Australia but no way in hell does he deserve access to the big matches (Sydney vs Melbourne, Gold Coast vs Melbourne, Gold Coast vs Sydney etc). His performance was an absolute shambles and in all honesty, was a contributing factor to the bitterness on the field.
There was a postscript to this match with the folllowing announced:
Steve Pantelidis was slapped with a 5 match ban (too lenient in my eyes) however Gold Coast are appealing claiming the punishment was too harsh (Personally should've got 10 minimun).
Kevin Muscat was slapped with a 2 match ban (Probably 1 match too many) ad Melbourne are appealing as they desire to have him available for the encounter with Sydney FC on Valentines Day.
Honestly, I've never been more disgusted by a match in my life and this is one night I'm not proud of the game
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