Maclaren reminds Ange of his abilities with quality winner

BRISBANE sharpshooter Jamie Maclaren delivered a timely reminder of his quality to Socceroos coach Ange Postecoglou with an A-League wonder goal to sink Melbourne Victory and deliver the Premiers’ Plate to Sydney FC.

Brisbane’s 1-0 win last night confirms the Sky Blues’ first silverware in seven years as the runaway leaders enter today’s clash with Perth 11 points ahead of the second-placed Victory with three rounds left.

But Maclaren’s 51st-minute super strike at Suncorp Stadium proved just as important for the Roar as it sealed their finals position, solidified fourth spot and provided relief from some late-season wobbles.

The discarded Socceroo outsmarted defenders Alan Baro and Nic Ansell to latch on to a speculative long ball by Avram Papadopoulos before lobbing Victory goalkeeper Lawrence Thomas from 25m.

It was his sixth goal in seven matches at a time Postecoglou is looking for more from his finishers in a stuttering World Cup campaign.

Former Roar defender Jason Geria had a chance to equalise with 20 minutes left but failed to deliver for the understrength Victory. With Luke DeVere making his return from a month-long calf injury as skipper, the Roar had been the dominant team for most of the night.

The scoreless opening half featured two booming longrange strikes from Brett Holman and Jack Hingert. Only the left upright denied Holman from a repeat of his 2010 World Cup goal against Serbia while Thomas produced a superb leaping save to tip Hingert’s longer effort over the bar.