A gallant Sydney FC bowed out of the 2007/08 Hyundai A-League after battling for 70 minutes with 10 men before going down 2-0 with the second goal coming thanks to a contentious 83rd minute penalty.
A gallant Sydney FC bowed out of the 2007/08 Hyundai A-League after battling for 70 minutes with 10 men before going down 2-0 with the second goal coming thanks to a contentious 83rd minute penalty.
Tony Popovic was judged to have brought down a Roar attacker and Sasa Ognenovski sent Queensland through to the preliminary final with a well-taken penalty.
It was one of those decisions that could have gone either way and referee Mark Shields pointed to the spot.
Sydney FC had fought gallantly for 70 minutes with 10 men after Robbie Middleby was given a straight red card in the 20th minute when Shields ruled he was the last man when he tangled with Robbie Kruse.
They were the two moments that shaped the contest and Queensland Roar progress while Sydney FC will have to settle for a place in the Pan Pacific Championships, to be played in Hawaii in a fortnight.
Sydney FC made one change to the starting side that drew 0-0 in the first leg with Ruben Zadkovich replacing the injured Juninho.
After an intense build up the game was delayed 45 minutes after a torrential storm flooded Suncorp Stadium while the teams were warming up.
When the game finally started it was Queensland that made the early running and they took the lead in the 13th minute when Reinaldo scored a good individual goal. A quick break saw him get the ball out wide on the left and he cut past one defender before curling a shot into the top right hand corner of Clint Bolton-s net.
Queensland was clearly on top and they were given an extra bonus when Shield sent Robbie Middleby off after he tangled with Robbie Kruse 40m from goal. Shield deemed Middleby was the last man and he was given a straight red card.
From there it was all about hanging on until the break and Sydney FC did manage to settle, playing with Alex Brosque as a lone striker to compensate for being down a man.
Queensland did cause a few more problems, mainly through their wide men, but in the final 10 minutes before the break, Sydney FC managed to wrestle their way back into the contest.
After half time Queensland Roar played deep and tried to attack on the counter attack and there were times Sydney FC got a foothold into the game but ultimately the Roar defence held string and when the penalty was awarded the situation was dire.
Sydney FC did have a few chances late to score a goal but it was not to be.
Queensland Roar 2 (Reinaldo 12, Sasa Ognenovski 83pen) d Sydney FC 0
Suncorp Stadium
Friday 8 February
Referee: Mark Shield
Crowd: 36,321
Queensland Roar:
Liam Reddy
Andrew Packer
Craig Moore (captain)
Josh McCloughan
Michael Zullo (Tahj Minniecon 71)
Massimo Murdocca
Reinaldo (Simon Lynch 54)
Matt McKay
Sasa Ognenovski
Robbie Kruse
Marcinho
Subs not used: Griffin MacMaster, Hyuk-Su Seo and Mitch Nichols.
Yellow cards: Andrew Packer 3, Massimo Murdocca 48, Liam Reddy 74.
Sydney FC
Clint Bolton
Iain Fyfe
Tony Popovic (captain)
Robbie Middleby
Ruben Zadkovich
Steve Corica
Alex Brosque (Brendan Santalab 69)
Terry McFlynn
Mark Milligan (Adam Biddle 87)
Ufuk Talay
Brendan Renaud (Mark Robertson 72)
Subs not used: Ivan Necevski (gk) and Ben Vidaic.
Yellow Cards: Brendan Renaud 15, Ufuk Talay 67, Tony Popovic 82.
Red Cards: Robbie Middleby 20
