EVENT: Brisbane Roar FC VS Melbourne Heart FC 1-1

TIME: 02-03-2012 7:00pm

LOCATION: SUNCORP STADIUM 

Bolton’s Exceptional Performance Denies The Roar’s Victory

It’s hard not to see the disappointment that Brisbane fans felt after they saw their team’s victory denied by Clint Bolton. Melbourne Heart’s goalkeeper successfully prevented Mohamed’s penalty kick right in the last minute, thus effectively denied Brisbane Roar a chance to climb back to the leader position of the A-League. Again, you cannot say what will be going to happen until the end rolls out. Final score 1-1.

Attacker Besart Berisha brought his team a valuable penalty kick thanks to the foul caused by number 4 Simon Colosimo right at the 90th minute. However, luck did not seem to strike fully on Brisbane Roar, as their regular penalty taker Henrique was absented due to suspension and Mohamed Adnan as an odd replacement. And sure enough, Melbourne Heart’s goalkeeper Clint Bolton did not give the player a chance. From the stage it was clear that Bolton already got into Adnan’s head because he moved even before the Brisbane player touched the ball.

With 4 wins in a round, the Roar stroked high right from the beginning of the match. The team missed an obvious chance to score one goal when number 7 Berisha’s shot fell straight into the Melbourne goalkeeper’s hands.

A minute later, Melbourne Heart replied with one player passing the ball to Eli Babalj in the 16m50 area just in front of the Roar’s goalkeeper. Unfortunately, despite his outrageous effort, the Melbourne player could not arrive to the right spot to control the ball.

In the 32nd minute, Brisbane Roar took the lead when number 17 Mitch Nichols, who held the ball just outside of the penalty area, and with nobody aside; he gave a surprise shot to the right corner, passing 2 of the Melbourne defenders, who were busy taking care of Berisha. Clint Bolton, with his view blocked by his colleagues, could not react fast enough at such a close distance. 1-0 in favor of Brisbane Roar.

However, about 8 minutes later, luck seemed to smile with Melbourne Heart when Berisha, after the confusion in the 16m50 area, skillfully tricked Bolton, but the finishing kick went colliding into the goalkeeper’s leg, thus stealing one more goal from the Brisbane team.

The second half started with Melbourne Heart having 2 dangerous chances to score even; but thanks to Michael Theoklitos, both times he skillfully prevented his goal from the invasion.

However, the visitor’s effort paid out eventually after they won a corner kick right after the previous two incidents. In the 48th minute, from the corner kick, number 18 Curtis Good jumped higher than the rest and beautifully stroke his head to bring the ball to the high left corner of the goal, defeating Theoklitos. Melbourne Heart equalized the score.

From then on, both teams played with a cooling-down pace. Both sides shared equal chances and possession of the ball. The last minute of the game delivered both joy and regret for Brisbane Roar’ fans when their team missed the valuable penalty kick due to Bolton’s heroic performance.