Drab and dour for 80+ minutes then - once again - Adelaide's most abused player sends a world class finish into the top corner. Toure made a real difference. McGree made Toure's goal with a gut-busting run that was out of this world. Halloran class again
A special word for the referee.....special....really special.....
I think the key is me writing Blackwood off and losing my shit at him, always seems to score when I do.
Ref was a shocker, no consistency whatsoever and playing touch football judging by some mind boggling decisions in a game with zero niggle or controversy. It was almost like he needed to remind us he was there. The Iranian and female ref are the 2 best in the league imo, the rest are useless
Mohamed Toure was the perfect bit of impact and late-match life that the game needed. His freshness turned the tide in our favour. Before that it was a pretty scrappy and dull affair, and CCM created more chances and moved the ball better than we did.
Let's be careful about Toure - he has three years before he is a finished product physically.
Three things killed the game before the 80th minute last night. 1 CCM’s negativity. Eleven men behind the ball in three regimented rows. Their constant fouling and pushing in the back. 2 The appalling refereeing. Missed everything, constantly blowing the whistle and stopping play. 3 The absent Red Army. No chanting whatsoever until a bloke behind me in row P of the eastern stand woke them up. They must have all been at the Fringe or too busy chatting amongst themselves.
I think we really missed Strain and Troisi last night.
Just when it looked like it was about to peter out into a dull 0 - all draw, along come McGree, Blackwood and the younger Toure to set the match alight. We barely deserved a draw before the 80th minute; we didn't deserve to lose after the 85th.
I've been critical of Georgie Blackwood in the past and even wrote him off a month ago. I'm big enough to admit that I was wrong; Georgie, we love you again. More of that, week in, week out please - especially against the Western Wallies next week.
Enough has been said about the younger Toure already that it doesn't need repeating. To mangle Wordsworth, to have one Toure is bliss; to have two of them is very heaven. How good will our front line be when we have both fit and firing?
I thought that we missed Troisi, but Boland is determined to make up for his lost time. He is a dynamo of energy and while not the most technically gifted of players, he reads the game better than anyone and always pops up in the right positions. He's a keeper, come contract renewal time.
There was no atmosphere until the 80th minute, when the Red Army finally woke up. A small crowd didn't help, but it's the RA's job to wake the crowd, not the other way round.
McGree is comfortably the best player in the side and I cannot see us keeping him past this season. He will break double figures for goals scored sometime before the end of February and that may be the last that we see of him, alas. Then it will be up to Opseth to start banging them in.
So not a great match by any stretch, but the right result in the end. I felt a little bit sorry for the Central Toast at the end; they toiled really hard in the first half and should have been at least 2 - nil up at the half, but they are like the blind piano player in a brothel; they know that stuff is going on around them, but they are always separate from the main action.
I too must rescind my criticism of blackwood, he has turned it around and is proving us all wrong, great work from him.
Mcgree would be put on a pedestal by media if he wore a SFC or MVFC shirt. Easily the best player outsode of those teams.......because noone else exists outside those teams.
Hopefully we can nurture the toure brothers with constant game time over the next couple years and then see Al Hassan flourish overseas and eventually Mohammad. But they both need to consolidate themsleves here first. I would be furious if they do what previous young guns have and left for eaat coast teams and dwindle away.
George is benefiting from some consistent game time. Banging in a couple will do wonders for the confidence as well.
I think Opseth will benefit from the same consistency. I really enjoyed seeing him throw his hands to the heavens in celebration/relief when Georgie scored - he clearly wants the team to win, even if he's not the one scoring. It's sometimes hard to find this in an import, particularly one who's only been here for half a season.
Mohamed Toure was the perfect bit of impact and late-match life that the game needed. His freshness turned the tide in our favour. Before that it was a pretty scrappy and dull affair, and CCM created more chances and moved the ball better than we did.
Let's be careful about Toure - he has three years before he is a finished product physically.
We should have had 3 goals at the half.
They created chances but never really looked dangerous if you get me, guess that's why they are where they are on the table.
Agree re Toure, seems to have good people around him too so keeping him level shouldn't be an issue.
George is benefiting from some consistent game time. Banging in a couple will do wonders for the confidence as well.
I think Opseth will benefit from the same consistency. I really enjoyed seeing him throw his hands to the heavens in celebration/relief when Georgie scored - he clearly wants the team to win, even if he's not the one scoring. It's sometimes hard to find this in an import, particularly one who's only been here for half a season.
Agree regarding Opseth, his attitude seems very good which is why most are tolerating his lack of goals more so than previous import strikers
