Brisbane roar back to claim A-League crown
Reuters - Sunday 13 March 2011, 09:53
SYDNEY, March 13 (Reuters) - Brisbane Roar scored twice in
the final three minutes of extra-time before overcoming the
Central Coast Mariners 4-2 in a penalty shootout to win their
first A-League title on Sunday.
The triumph provided a timely boost for the cash-strapped
side, who are looking for new investors after the directors
relinquished their license on Tuesday.
Brisbane, who finished top of the standings in the regular
season, looked like having their 27-match unbeaten streak ended
when they trailed the Mariners 2-0 with three minutes of extra-time remaining after a scoreless 90 minutes.
The Mariners, led by man-of-the-match Matthew Ryan in goal,
defended for long periods as Brisbane dominated possession but
they took a surprise two-goal lead thanks to Adam Kwasnik and
Oliver Bozanic in the first period of extra time.
However, Brazilian forward Henrique pulled one back for the
Roar and then Erik Paartalu headed in a corner just before the
final whistle to force a shootout.
"To be honest, I gave up hope and I thought it was one of
those days," Paartalu told Fox Sports.
"Full credit to these boys for coming back at the death. We
dominated for most of the first part of the game and you have to
give credit to Central Coast, they took their chances which we
didn't."
Roar goalkeeper Michael Theoklitos then saved Danny McBreen
and Pedj Bojic's spotkicks, allowing Henrique to stroke home the
winning kick to thrill the majority of the club-record 50,168
crowd at Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium.