Sunday, November 21, 2010

Brisbane Roar 1-1 North Queensland Fury: Roar lead A-League standings by 3 points

Brisbane Roar 1-1 North Queensland Fury

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Brisbane Roar were playing their 9th game in 36 days and they were very lucky not to come unstuck against a confident North Queensland Fury outfit that are second-last on the A-League ladder.

Roar retain top spot and are 3 points ahead of second-placed Adelaide United.

Gareth Edds put the Fury ahead after 9 minutes from a perfect low cross from the right by David Williams. It was Edds’s first A-League goal.

In the 16th minute, Brisbane were almost level, but Ivan Franjic’s cross-cum-shot from the right struck the angle of crossbar and far post.

Ten minutes into the second half, Fury missed a glorious opportunity to increase their lead when Isaka Cernak released Williams on the right. His ball to the far post caught out the Brisbane rearguard and left Jason Spagnuolo with an open goal, but he somehow shot wide.

Brisbane are not the A-League leaders without good reason, however, and they continued to put together some impressive patches of play and were obviously looking to win this game rather than just draw.

Five minutes from the end, the home side equalised. Thomas Broich crossed the ball from the left and Reinaldo flicked it on with his head to the impressive Franjic on the right of the box, who smashed home an unstoppable shot to make it 1-1.

Stoppage time was a nail-biting affair, but neither side could snatch the 3 points.

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Brisbane Roar: Theoklitos - Franjic, DeVere, Smith (Susak 43), Mundy (Nichols 65) - Murdocca (Solorzano 46), Paartalu, McKay - Barbarouses, Reinaldo, Broich (Sub not used: Redmayne)

Booked: Solorzano, Barbarouses

Goals: Franjic 85

North Queensland Fury: Pasfield - Storey, Hughes, Malik, McDonald - Edds, Talay (Kilian 79), Nikas - Williams, Spagnuolo (Payne 65), Cernak (Hingert 75) (Sub not used: Usai)

Booked: Storey, Talay, Kilian

Goals: Edds 9

Att: 10,126

Ref: A Milliner

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