R26 v Adelaide | Sat 25 July | 7:00pm | SS7 / Harbourside Function Centre

davilla...oh noes...

Izzo good there. Knew it would be low left.

He went the same way from the other night AND back in Adelaide ?

Can only laugh at that. Never looked likely.

That was absolutely pathetic

Had absolute faith he would make that...

I'm going to bed. I teach my 10 year olds better football skills than this. 

Bad but not in the same league as the great Eugene Dadi.

what a lame  penalty take.  Keeper knew exactly  where he was going to place it. 

I'm sorry, I don't care that it's not an official rule.  Talay/medical staff should not be putting TAHW back on the field

Who's your Dadi?

Don't blow this.

Disgraceful that Hudson-Wihongi is still on the pitch after that head knock.

pitch might have played a part.

good point against Adelaide and given huge rotation

Good point, happy with that overall.

Shame about the terrible pen. Decent performance from the youngters though. Having Davila drop deep to help out the midfield turned the game around.

Good second half apart from the defending for their goal.

Impressed by Waine when he came on, his best game for us now his confidence is growing.

argh. we were better in the 2nd. Poor pen and general final third play cost us. But good for a bunch of squaddies to get a go. 

Dont mind that game since it was a non-first team playing. Surely Davilla saw the goal keeper dive before he shot, was like watching how not to take a penalty in slow motion. Bring on next week.

Seems about fair. Izzo was fantastic and though we created he made 3 great stops we might have scored. Some youngsters defo enhanced their reputations. With VAR it might have ended ten-ten but that probably would have benefited Adelaide. Shows the value of David Ball. Just gives our attack that edge.

Good performance considering UT made 7 changes to the starting line up. There's not many teams in the league who can play so many youngsters and still get a result. Now it's about getting momentum going, finding the strongest 11, and get it all clicking for the finals

Happy with the point considering half the team were kids. Really liked Elliots game, he defended really well.....looks a good prospect. Better second half once Davila came on. We looked like a different team. Terrible penalty....I hope this two lost points don’t bite us in the end. 

Well played Uffie. We have now got three games in three weeks and he has given a good rest to most of the stars. We can safely field our A team for the rest of the Competition.

ohh so close to pulling off the win !!!

The Kids Can Play ⚽️

That starting line up couldn't beat an egg. 

I'm all for introducing youngsters, but stage it, don't throw them all in at once. Some of them definitely look promising, but that was a disappointing display and I think a lot of fans are right to be aggrieved. 

That was a tight 3 games.  Now a weeks rest.  Next Friday will be interesting. 

Purely for rotation's sake I'd imagine. We'll put our best foot forward for the next few weeks. 4 points out of a possible 9 is disappointing but at least we've given some of the regulars some rest.

I knew this would happen just like i predicted, we play the kids and get done for it. At least we got a chance to be in the ACL.

Some of you really are miserable buggars. After today we sit in second place after giving a heap of our starters game time off.If it hadnt been for a rubbish penalty and a brilliant save we would have got all 3 points.If some of you cant see the benefit gained from giving some of the young guys game time think its best you go back to watching tiddlywinks.

There is a lot of common sense in that. Talay probably looked at the form sheet and decided that this is the game we're least likely to lose if we field a team of kids.  And my guess is that he simply is looking ahead to the next season when these kids may be needed on the field regularly.  To me that is a sign of a good manager, backed by good ownership group, that they test these scenarios.

A demonstration of talent in depth I would say. No one looked out of place. Incredible progress from 7 or 8 players on the books at the start of the season. 

1] We're 2nd !!

2] Key players were rested and hopefully will have recovered for the next game. 

3] Youngsters given a chance to show if they have what it takes. Imho, they stood up fairly well. Consider that they have had  F-All real game time. Cut them slack. They did well.

4] We could have had a red card but this ref is no where near as good as the one on Wednesday.

5] Yes Da Villa got nervous with that pen, leaving it as late as he could it backfired.

6] Let's hear some more compliments towards Izzo, whom single handily kept Adelaide not only in this game but quite a few others this season. The guy had an excellent game.

7] Happy that we didn't lose or melt and Very Happy seeing our teams name in 2nd place - It's what they deserve after the season they have had.

Yeh, well said LG. Payne must be kicking himself- Louis and Calam certainly haven't looked over awed at right back. Full 90 for Hudson Wihongi, after an impressive cameo last game. Wilson and Rufer put themselves about. Didn't watch Sutton as closely, but didn't notice any major errors. McGing handled the pressure and continued his promise from pre-season. Waine had a good team game- won aerial ball and so on. 

A keeper on form like this is worth a good striker. On other days we win that 4-1. 

And having said all that.... letting unmarked Opseth to score with a free header was a reminder this was an inexperienced central defence.  Talay made a crucial call, late in the game, to bolster our attack and to keep Adelaide busy defending.  But we could have equally lost another goal on a counter, so all in all the result was a fair one.

Also Sotirio provides no impediment down the line

Sotorio was poor all game, bar his finish.

Sutton didn't offer much with the ball, but was ok on defence. Not a naturally player, correct, but more an attacking mid correct??

I would say even his finish wasn't flash, he hit the keeper with the first attempt and was lucky it deflected in front of him for the second. He's basically a better version of B Ibini

I've seen plenty of top quality A League strikers butcher chances like that. Fact is Izzo came out well, made himself big, and yes Sotirio was lucky with the rebound but he kept his head and slotted it home. That's all you could ask of him.

Also, while it's true he wasn't good in the first half his 2nd half was much better. I especially remember a brilliant barnstorming run up the left where he fed Davilla a perfect cut back for a shot which he blazed well over.

yeh didn't think Sotirio was poor- it was a great run and a very good take. And that made our only goal. He could have done better closing down the player tho- they were unchallenged for that whole scoring movement.