Roar give finals hope a kick as hoodoo ends
BRISBANE Roar and coach John Aloisi have ended years of AAMI Park torment, downing Melbourne Victory 2-1 to re-ignite their A-League finals campaign.
Massimo Maccarone and Brett Holman scored first-half goals in the Roar’s most composed performance of their stuttering season, lifting them inside the top six.
James Troisi’s 30-metre stunner with seven minutes remaining was a response to his benching by coach Kevin Muscat, but came too late to salvage a result for Victory.
Fielding the oldest side in Australian domestic history – with an average age of more than 33 – the Roar out-smarted the home side. Aloisi’s side yielded all the possession but had control of the contest from the seventh minute when Maccarone turned in the box and shot past Lawrence Thomas. Victory will rue missed tackles – from Kosta Barbarouses on ex-teammate Fahid Ben Khalfallah and James Donachie on the goalscorer – before the Italian’s lethal finish.
On 28 minutes, Donachie was again at fault, allowing Holman to stroke home a freeflowing move that delighted the away fans.
Boos rang out at half-time from Victory fans, with Muscat throwing on Troisi and fresh talent Kenny Athiu and Josh
Hope to try a new approach. When Troisi arrowed his shot off the crossbar and home, the Victory faithful among 14,576 in attendance had something to cling to.
Brisbane withstood their efforts to end two of the ALeague’s longest droughts.
The three-time champions were without a win at AAMI Park in four years, while Aloisi hadn’t seen his side win at the venue for five years – and can now dream of finals.