With just the midweek fixture remaining in Week 21, we though it a good time to reflect on the first games of 2011.
Central Coast Mariners and Melbourne Victory brought in the New Year with an enthralling clash at Bluetongue Stadium. The home side were fortunate to get an own goal from Adrian Leijer but the Victory rallied with late goals against the ten man Mariners from Diogo Ferreira and Grant Brebner to record all three points for the fourth match in a row.
On January 2nd, Victory's Melbourne rivals the Heart notched their third win in a row when they were far too good for North Queensland Fury, winning 2-0 at AAMI Park thanks to goals from John Aloisi and Gerald Sibon.
On the same night, league leaders Brisbane Roar edged second-placed Adelaide United 1-0 at Hindmarsh Stadium to take their unbeaten run to 19 matches while inflicting a fourth defeat on the Reds in their past five outings.
Monday the 3rd January saw Sydney FC snap their five-match losing streak, scoring their first goals in that time with a 2-1 win over 'bunny' side Newcastle Jets at EnergyAustralia Stadium. It was the Jets' third loss in a row and marked the Sky Blues' 11th triumph in the last 14 encounters between the clubs.
And finally, Gold Coast United and Perth Glory played out a 0-0 draw at Skilled Park ahead of Wednesday's midweek clash between Wellington Phoenix and Melbourne Victory from Westpac Stadium.
Central Coast Mariners: 1 (Adrian LEIJER 48' (OG)) Melbourne Victory:2 (Diogo FERREIRA 85', Grant BREBNER 88') Friday, 31 December 2010 Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford Local kick-off: 6:00pm Referee:Ben WilliamsCrowd: 12,409 Yellow cards:CCM - Adam KWASNIK 41'/53' MV - Michael PETKOVIC 90'+4 Red cards:CCM - Adam KWASNIK 53'
Melbourne Heart:2 (John ALOISI 59', Gerald SIBON 83') North QLD Fury: 0 Sunday, 2 January 2010 AAMI Park, Melbourne Local kick-off: 5:00pm Referee: Peter Green Crowd: 6,482 Yellow cards:MH - nil NQF - Mark HUGHES 90'+3
Adelaide United: 0 Brisbane Roar:1 (Jean Carlos SOLORAZNO 69') Sunday, 2 January 2010 Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide Local kick-off: 6:30pm Referee: Matthew Breeze Crowd: 14,420 Yellow cards:AU - Robert CORNTHWAITE 90' BR - Mitch NICHOLS 37', Milan SUSAK 40'
Newcastle Jets: 1 (Labinot HALITI 66') Sydney FC:2 (Hirofumi MORIYASU 36', Bruno CAZARINE 45'+1) Monday, 3 January 2010 EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle Referee: Matthew Gillett Crowd: 12,118 Yellow cards:NJ - Ryan GRIFFITHS 17', Kasey WEHRMAN 27', SYD - Stephan KELLER 39', Nick CARLE 49', Scott JAMIESON 75', Liam REDDY 84'
Gold Coast United: 0 Perth Glory: 0 Monday, 3 January 2010 Skilled Park, Robina Referee: Peter O'Leary Yellow cards:GCU - Steve PANTELIDIS 24', ANDERSON 75' PG - Jamie COYNE 48', Andy TODD 75'
