Home is where the Heart is! Join the Red and White army at AAMI Park
Melbourne Heart v Gold Coast United
Saturday 23rd October 6:45pm
AAMI Park
Home is where the Heart is! Join the Red and White army at AAMI Park as they look to make it a fantastic four home wins in a row…
It hasn-t taken Melbourne Heart long to turn AAMI Park into their own fortress. A win for Heart this Saturday against Gold Coast United will be their fourth home triumph in a row. This is a more than decent return for any club, but it is an especially rare feat for a team playing their first ever Hyundai A-League season.
In fact, only two sides have achieved it: Adelaide United in 2005/06 and this weekend-s opponents, Gold Coast United, who managed it in their inaugural season last term.
Heart-s last home win was, of course, the most treasured of all so far. Their introduction to Hyundai A-League action may have felt slightly slow-burning over the first few weeks of the season, but their campaign burst into life in the most thrilling way possible with their landmark 2-1 derby day win over neighbours Victory.
The result ignited the imagination of the Melbourne public to the extent that there should be a large and vociferous turnout at AAMI park on Saturday. Melbourne Heart have well and truly arrived! Need further proof? Well, in the wake of such an epic derby win, it could have been easy for the bubble to immediately burst with a tough trip to Wellington last week.
However, the sense of momentum that the Stripes are building continued and, in fact, John Van-t Schip-s side almost snatched an unthinkable first ever Hyundai A-League away win in the most unlikely of venues. For some time it looked like John Aloisi’s penalty and Matt Thompson‘s goal were going to be enough for the Hyundai A-League-s newest side to turn around an early Chris Greenacre strike and become the first team to win in Wellington since Brisbane Roar did so two years ago, but Leo Bertos- goal on the hour meant a share of the spoils.
Gold Coast United travel to Melbourne in high spirits and certainly won‘t be daunted by Heart‘s excellent home form. With three wins and three draws from the last six games, Miron Bleiberg-s side will justifiably feel they are a match for anyone, just ask ladder leaders Adelaide. With a bit of luck last week, United would have come away with all three points against The Reds rather than the one they had to be content with.
Still, the clean sheet and fine performance served as another signifier of the quiet progress that Gold Coast are making on the pitch. Having learnt their lessons from their bells-and-whistles approach last season, this time round there are no bold claims coming from the boardroom, the dugout or the stands, but rather United are simply letting their feet do the talking. This approach is serving them well, as they sit nicely behind the top two as we head towards the middle part of the Hyundai A-League 2010/11 season.
With Melbourne becoming more and more accustomed to life in the Hyundai A-League and with Gold Coast United proving themselves to be one of the most consistent and hard-to-beat sides around, this Saturday-s match-up has the makings of a really tasty clash. Heart fans, your side showed you what they are capable of in that unforgettable night at AAMI Park a fortnight ago, now it-s time to turn up in numbers and show them that, whatever passion and dedication they can offer on the field, you can match it in the stands. Sing your Hearts out!
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