By Louise Taffa
In the final Youth League round for 2018, there were nineteen goals scored in just four games. In Conference A and at home, Brisbane Roar demolished Melbourne Victory 6-0! Daniel Leck got himself a hat-trick and goalkeeper Macklin Freke kept his second clean sheet of the season.
The win, which was quite surprising especially by a margin that great, means Roar have extended their top-of-the-table position to a four point lead with their nearest competitors Melbourne City sitting underneath them.
As for Melbourne Victory, they’re at the bottom of Conference A on just four points which equates to one win and a draw. Victory have conceded the most amount of goals across both groups and will want to improve on this area in the final rounds.
In the F3 Derby which coincided with the same A-League fixture, it was the Central Coast Mariners who took the three points unlike Mike Mulvey’s senior team. The Mariners Youth opened the scoring in the 34th minute through striker Jordan Smylie and headed into the break with the advantage. In the second half the Newcastle Jet’s Cai Tipaldo equalised and it looked like both teams would share the spoils, until Smylie got his second and attacking midfielder Charles M’Mombwa joined the party (both goals arriving in injury time).
Elsewhere in Conference B, the defending Champions Western Sydney Wanderers cemented their top-of-the-table spot after a 4-0 win against Canberra United. They’ve set themselves up nicely heading into the New Year with a six point gap between second placed Sydney FC (who had a bye this round).
The last game for 2018 was in Melbourne at CB Smith Reserve. A ten-man Melbourne City came from behind to defeat the travelling Adelaide United 3-2. City defender Dylan Pierias, Stefan Colakovski and Moudi Najjar all wrote their names on the scoresheet, while recent A-League debutant Carlo Armiento got a double for the Reds.
In the New Year, Perth Glory return from a bye and host Adelaide United, both are on equal points and within reaching distance of second placed City so the race isn’t over yet.
Round eight also sees a classic Melbourne Derby while the Jets host the Wanderers and Sydney FC welcome the Central Coast Mariners.
Round Seven Results
Western Sydney Wanderers v Canberra United (4-0 (Agamemnonos 2’, Adam 41’, 49’, Monge 86’)
Newcastle Jets v Central Coast Mariners (1-3) (Tipaldo 75’) (Smylie 34’, 91’, M’Mombwa 94’)
Brisbane Roar v Melbourne Victory (6-0 (Duncan 3’, Brooks 14’, Leck 16’, 20’, 34’, Muratovic 43’)
Melbourne City v Adelaide United (3-2) (Pierias 37’, Colakovski 53’, Najjar 76’) (Armiento 23’, 24’)
