Aussie rules

Footy thunder from Down Under

Paul Hansford

Shock horror! Newcastle win a trophy... in Oz

Friday 29 February 2008 11:30

In scenes of emotion not witnessed since Angry Anderson belted out “Suddenly” as Scott and Charlene walked down the aisle, the third season of the A-League reached its conclusion with the Newcastle Jets beating the Central Coast Mariners 1-0 in the Grand Final.

While the football on show in the final was pretty dire, the lead up to the Grand Final – which unlike most leagues around the world decides the Australian champions – was much more newsworthy.

The fun began almost two weeks before the big clash when Football Federation Australia (FFA) moved the venue of the Grand Final to Sydney as the Jets and Mariners’ home grounds only hold 26,000 and 19,000 respectively.

Conspiracy theorists among fans griped at a Sydney-centric federation and corporate sponsors taking over the game but I reckon the FFA just didn’t want their showcase game looking like it was being played in the old Olympic beach volleyball stadium at Bondi Beach.

The total number of stands the two teams can boast is five, with one goal end of the Mariners’ Bluetongue Stadium lined by palm trees and a motorway, while the Jets’ EnergyAustralia Stadium just has a sloping patch of grass behind each goal. Great for watching football but not the best showcase for Australian football.

The rivalry between the two sides is due in most part to proximity, with the two teams separated by a 90km stretch of the F3 motorway (no prizes for what the derby is called), but with a lot of “Coasties” working up in Newcastle the hostilities are based more in banter than battering each other.

However a spicy Major Semi-Final which saw the Jets' 2-0 away win in the first leg overturned by a stunning 3-0 win for the Mariners to take the “Coasties” to the Grand Final set things up very nicely for the re-match.

The build-up in the week before the game was bubbling along quite nicely until Newcastle coach Gary Van Egmond decided to question the IQ of Mariners striker Sasho Petrovski. The Central Coast forward claimed if he and strike partner John Aloisi had been playing for the Jets opponents, the Queensland Roar, in the Preliminary Final, Newcastle wouldn’t have made it to the Grand Final.

A self-confessed Arsene Wenger fan and one of the brightest young coaches in Australia, Van Egmond let rip at Petrovski – the man who scored the goal that knocked the Jets out of the Major Semi – saying: “Unfortunately Sasho’s not the sharpest tool in the shed. If anyone’s had a conversation with Sasho, they’ll know what I’m talking about. I think he opens his mouth before he thinks.”

Jets’ captain Jade North waded in, sniping, “He’s scored two goals all season and I don’t think he’s got any more in him” (which proved only partly right – he didn’t score in the final but he actually had eight for the season).

When all was said and done, the talking had to be done on the pitch and the two teams went about the Grand Final like a couple of actors who’d lost their scripts; the game was a poor reflection on the quality of the football played in the A-League this season.

Due in part to the two sides’ familiarity with each other – it was the sixth time this season they’d met – free-flowing football was at a minimum, with a “playing not to lose” vibe pervasive throughout.

The game’s one moment of magic was provided by Jets’ striker Mark Bridge, who pounced on a mistake by ex-Rangers defender Tony Vidmar, took off for goal and put a curling right-footed shot past Mariners’ keeper Danny Vukovic. You don’t see many finishes like that in this league and it was a worthy Grand Final winner.

The game had one more chapter to play out and a refereeing error was at the centre of the storm. In the final minute, the Mariners won a last-gasp corner and sent everyone into the opponents’ box, including keeper Vukovic.

As the ball was whipped into the area, Mariners’ midfielder James Holland clearly handled the ball with his elbow but referee Mark Shield waved off the Coast’s claims of a penalty. As the players surrounded the ref to complain, Vukovic pushed Shield’s outstretched arm and, proving at least some of his sensory nodes were working, the ref immediately reached for the red card.

The upshot for Vukovic is a 15-month ban, which will make him ineligible to play again until mid-November and, pending an appeal, will also see him miss the Beijing Olympics. Shield’s punishment for missing the penalty: a third consecutive A-League Ref of the Year Award.

For the Mariners, the non-penalty was the final roll of the dice and soon after the Jets were up on the podium receiving the Golden Toilet Seat, quite clearly the most comical trophy in world football.

One of the most disappointing aspects of the game was yet an uninspired performance from the Jets’ former Leeds United striker Joel Griffiths, whose pace and goalscoring ability have been a highlight of the season. Head and shoulders above the rest of the league this campaign (check out this tasty free-kick against Melbourne, for example), the 28-year-old had a quiet finals series, with rumours of hamstring problems said to be a contributing factor.

But it wasn’t enough to stop him walking off with the prestigious Johnny Warren medal for Player of the Season at the A-League Awards this week, a massive 140 votes ahead of second place Alex Brosque of Sydney FC.

Despite the medal being voted on by fellow players, there were more than a few raised eyebrows when he won, with rumours circulating that he’s not even the most popular player in his own dressing room, let alone the league.

Factor in a swipe at a linesman’s bollocks during a match this season that went unpunished by the FFA, and Griffiths can consider himself a lucky – as well as worthy – recipient of the medal.