Asia/Oceania
Brockie grabbed headlines last month with his match-winning double and silky skills against Perth Glory and his perfectly-timed volley to open the scoring in the 25th minute against his former club ensured Brockie will feature in any end-of-season ‘best of’ packages.
But Sydney fought back in the second half and netted a pair of goals to claim all three points and leave the Jets in seventh position in the A-League.
Michael McGlinchey’s Central Coast Mariners went top of the table with a 2-1 away win over a slumping Brisbane Roar, while at the other end of the table Glen Moss helped Gold Coast United earn their second straight clean sheet in a 3-0 win over Adelaide United before the gloveman left the field with an injury in the 69th minute.
Shane Smeltz’s Perth Glory lost 2-1 at home to an in-form Melbourne Heart while Wellington Phoenix, fielding Tim Brown, Ben Sigmund and Leo Bertos, looked tired after their third game in eight days and lost 3-1 away to Melbourne Victory with former Nix player Marco Rojas coming off the bench for the victors late in the game.
In the W-League, Football Ferns defenders Abby Erceg and Anna Green did their part in Adelaide’s 1-0 win over Perth by keeping a clean sheet in their side’s first win of the season.
Europe
All Whites fans in the Northern Hemisphere will be looking forward to the New Year when both Winston Reid and Ryan Nelsen could be back in action for Blackburn and West Ham respectively.
Chris Wood’s Birmingham City dipped out of the Europa League midweek despite ending their campaign with a 1-0 win over Slovenia club Maribor and must now refocus on the domestic campaign, a quest that did not begin well with a 1-0 loss to Crystal Palace this morning.
In Scotland, Rory Fallon was in the starting line up for Aberdeen’s 1-0 win over Hibernian – a crucial three points that keeps the Dons head above water in the relegation battle.
Bad weather impacted on the Frauen Bundesliga in Germany with Wolfsburg’s match against USV Jena – featuring Rebecca Smith and Amber Hearn – one of three matches postponed.
That allowed Ria Percival’s FFC Frankfurt to make up ground in the title race with a 3-0 away win over Essen-Schönebeck and a Bad Neuenahr side including Katie Hoyle and Sarah Gregorius consolidated their mid-table postion with a goalless draw away against Freiburg.
North America
Finally, amidst post season activity in Major League Soccer, Andy Boyens has been snapped up by LA Galaxy in the MLS Re-entry Draft after cross-town rivals Chivas USA elected not to take the option on the All Whites defender’s contract. Boyens joins former New Zealand U-20 captain Dan Keat at the MLS champions.
Story courtesy of New Zealand Football.
For more on New Zealand football go to www.nzfootball.co.nz

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