What Do We Want? (Tipping)

Well I know what I want Hindsight to tell us after this weekend. It's hard not to notice that the fortunes of the tippers are somewhat swayed by the respective fortunes of the teams they support - it's a generalisation, but like any good generalisation, it's essentially true. Well this time, because I can hardly see that it could make much difference to my guesses' overall accuracy, I'm going to tip strictly according to what I really want. And in case it wasn't noticed, I'm a Roar fan.

So I want Adelaide to beat the Mariners. That would open the door to first place for the Roar. Of course it would also keep Adelaide tight on our heals at best, but I'm going for the best case scenario all round here. I better be realistic though. Actually I'll go for a brief eddy of pattern in history:

Adelaide vs Central Coast
Adelaide 2:1

More obviously, I want the Roar to win, making a clean sweep of their Wellington encounters. But I think it needs to be convincing. Let's face it the Phoenix haven't developed the most intimidating reputation. Doing Perth, however convincingly, was a demonstration of the pit that the Glory boys have really found themselves in at least as much as a show of quality from the Kiwis. Somehow that is the reason - that Wellington has shown it is playing on another level to the Westies - that the Roar must show Wellington, in front of their own fans, that we are playing on another level again. We have to demonstrate the space between the teams near the top of the table and those at the bottom. If the Roar muffs either of their next two away games (Perth next), against the apparent easy beats of the League, we'll lose more than just points.

Wellington vs Queensland:
Queensland 0:4

However unlikely it seems, I'd love for Perth to shock the Sydney fans by topping them at home, if only to keep Sydney further away from our dizzying height, but also because when it come to sport it is my duty as a Queenslander to despise Sydney (in the nicest possible way, you understand). Clearly this is not the case for wild abandon though. I can't dare go for more than a one point win. I'm going to back a disastrous goalless game where Perth get a freaker in from a break, probably in the last minute of extra time. Then I want the Sydney fans to suck on it. Sounds like another game I went to not long ago.

Sydney vs Perth
Perth 0:1

And I want Melbourne to whip Newcastle, partly again to just get Newcastle further away from the door, but also for sweet vengeance. Although a proper pants-down flogging would be the most gratifying, I should be realistic again, and also keep the humiliation for the Roar's loss against Newcastle to a bearable minimum. For the sake of the League I'll go for a total cracker of a game, with goals!

Melbourne vs Adelaide:
Melbourne 3:2

May there be no serious injuries.

PS. The West End Terrors, Jacob's Indoor team, won 17:0 on Saturday. Jacob scored 2. Actually all six of the players (5 a side) scored at least 2. There was a hat trick and two quadies (is that a term?) In the second half Max, who'd scored 3 in the first half, was in goals, and not getting much action, so he asked me if he could run it out. I said, 'sure' as we were already about 12 up or something. About a minute later he dribbled the ball all the way and scored his fourth. Yes, it was against 'Swiss Cheese'. What sort of a loser calls a soccer team, 'Swiss Cheese'? Anyway, I hope that game hasn't scarred any of them for life. Next week is the finals rounds, which, needless to say, Swiss Cheese are not in. The semis are against a tough team, but with an only slightly more fortunate name, 'The White Wonders'.