Mark Rudan and Andrew Durante both copped it from the Wellington boo-boys but left New Zealand with a win for new club Western United.
Rudan spent an off-season in the spotlight after his A-League defection from Phoenix but last Sunday night he returned to Westpac Stadium, where he was booed, jeered, and even dodged a flag or two flung from the stands.
“It was quite clear what my role was going to be coming back here,” Rudan said after overseeing a 1-0 win. “And that was fine. We work in the entertainment industry. Western United were only admitted to the league in December last year, and have had to build a professional organisation from the ground up since then.
The most savage attack from the stands was a banner that read “One Thief, Three Traitors,” a dig at Rudan and departing players led by Andrew Durante. Western head back to Victoria on Monday having banked a critical three points in their historic first clash.
They will now enjoy four of their next five games at home, Geelong’s GMHBA Stadium, beginning with Perth Glory on Sunday. New Brisbane Roar coach Robbie Fowler has praised the fighting spirit of his players following their dramatic 1-1 draw with Perth Glory, but says there’s still plenty of work to do this A-League season.
Roar snatched a valuable point from their trip to Perth when star recruit Roy O’Donovan scored a goal in the fifth minute of stoppage time in Sunday’s clash at HBF Park.The goal was initially disallowed because of offside, but the decision was overturned by the VAR.Brisbane looked patchy in the first half, but they were the dominant team after the break. Elvis Kamsoba found the net, but the dawn of new A-League eras for Melbourne Victory and Melbourne City ended in a 0-0 draw at Marvel Stadium. With Marco Kurz coaching Victory for the first time in the A-League and Erick Mombaerts likewise for City, both sides had decent chances to claim all three points but had to share the spoils last Saturday night in front of 33,523 fans. Kamsoba looked to have broken through for his maiden goal for Victory in the 56th minute but the Burundian winger was ruled offside by the video assistant referee (VAR). It was a shame because the call wasted a superb goal celebration by Kamsoba, who did multiple backflips towards the corner flag and stuck the landing with a flourish that would’ve done an Olympic gymnast proud.
Round one Results:
Round 2 fixtures:
Friday18/10
Melbourne Victory –
Western Sydney Wanderers
Saturday 19/10
Western United-Perth Glory
Central Coast Mariners – Newcastle Jets
Sunday 20/10
Melbourne City – Adelaide United
Sydney FC – Wellington Phoenix
