Brisbane Roar coach Ange Postecoglou was the first to admit yesterday’s 1-0 win wasn’t his team’s most impressive football show to date but said the determination of his players was the most pleasing factor heading into the final stretch of the season.
After comprehensively outplaying Sydney FC in the opening stanza, a half-time revival from the Sky Blues saw a much tighter second period contest but Brisbane stood strong to hold on and make club and league history.
Not only was it their first ever win at the Sydney Football Stadium in six seasons, but the Roar have now equalled the longest unbeaten streak in the Australian national league set by South Melbourne in February 2001 in the old NSL.
While the Hyundai A-League leaders had to be content with a one goal victory despite dominating the encounter, Brisbane also managed to keep a clean sheet – a first since their shutout of Adelaide United at home five weeks ago.
“Obviously we hadn-t won there before and they-d been comprehensively beaten the week before so you always worry about those games but it was good,” Postecoglou said.
“It was probably not as sparkling a performance as we-ve had but we showed a bit of grit yesterday which I was really pleased about.
“It was our first clean sheet in six games so there were some good signs.”
When questioned about their remaining games and any thoughts of claiming silverware, Postecoglou was quick to squash any thoughts of complacency appearing amongst the squad.
He said his players- drive to continually improve their standards on the park and a much more favourable fixture list heading into the latter end of the campaign was the ideal combination to ensuring complacency doesn-t set in.
“Everything suggests to me that they-ve still got improvement in them and they want to improve and they want to keep working hard,” the Brisbane mentor said.
“We-re kind of in the final stretch, we-ve got nine games left and seven of the nine are in Queensland so we-re in a good position.
“The indicators I have suggest to me that we-ll finish strong.”
Brisbane have four remaining home games in the Hyundai A-League 2010/11 season, including the Boxing Day blockbuster against Gold Coast United, as well as two interstate battles away to North Queensland Fury.
Currently sitting on 44 competition points after 21 fixtures, the Roar-s only other away trips are to Adelaide United (January 2) and Central Coast Mariners (January 12).
Tickets for Brisbane Roar-s next home against Gold Coast United are available through Ticketek. Kick-off for the match is 6pm at Suncorp Stadium.
