With Adelaide securing a dominant 2-0 win over Melbourne City on Friday night, their destiny was in Brisbane Roar’s hands who were to play 24 hours later. However, their failure to beat a depleted Melbourne Victory, thanks in large to the goalkeeping heroics of Lawrence Thomas, allowed the Reds to be crowned the Premiers of the 2015-16 season.
It is the Reds’ first piece of A-League silverware since claiming the minor premiership in the inaugural season.
It is what dreams are made of. Something that can only be realised in a fairy tale or achieved on a video console. That was until United proved the status quo wrong – they defied the odds. A team can be situated at the bottom of the table for a substantial portion of the year and still taste that winning feeling come the conclusion of the regular season.
POPULAR ARTICLES
John Aloisi staying positive after losing Premier’s Plate
Guillermo Amor not short on humour after Adelaide United top table
Adelaide were the cellar dwellers of the competition after eight rounds, but a remarkable resurgence saw them go on an incredible 14 match unbeaten streak – setting a new club record in the process.
That astonishing run put themselves right in contention to secure an unprecedented Premier’s Plate and ultimately it was fully deserved. The Reds boasted the stingiest defence, kept the most clean sheets and recorded the fewest number of losses. Despite not finding the back-of-the-net as many times as most of the other sides in the top six they had the second highest goal difference to boot with 17.
Huge credit must go to Guillermo Amor, the Spaniard was under mounting pressure with fans even calling for him to step down as a result of such a dismal start to the season.
However, he like the squad persevered and continued to work even harder to turnaround a horrid campaign, seemingly spiralling out of control. One win quickly became two as the South Australian juggernaut appeared to grow in confidence and gather momentum, not dissimilar from a snowball gathering speed and size on a mountain – becoming more intimidating.
No one really had any answers for the Reds and that was symptomatic of Amor’s ability to adjust and alter his tactics for their respective opponents. His temperament is also enviable: calm, competitive and extremely humble all at the same time makes the Barcelona legend one of the league’s shrewdest ever coaches.
Apart from a 1-0 home defeat to the Citizens in round 23, which in many people’s eyes was needed to ensure Adelaide remained focussed and avoid complacency from creeping in heading into finals, United were simply unstoppable. Each obstacle presented in front of them they seemed to pass with flying colours – highlighted by inspiring triumphs against the Victory, the Roar and of course City.
Adelaide lost just one game in their last 19 games and spent only one week at the summit of the table (in round 22) prior to this week, which further portrays the feat as extra mindboggling.
However, the attention must swiftly turn to the impending finals campaign that succeeds the season proper as Amor’s men are one game away from a home grand final.
Adelaide have a week off to prepare, before entertaining a home semi-final in two weeks’ time which is expected to be at Coopers Stadium. It is the closest the Reds have been to an A-League grand final since that controversial 1-0 loss to the Victory in 2009.
An A-League Championship in the city of churches has been long overdue for supporters. While we wait to see what transpires over the next week, Adelaide have given themselves the best chance of attaining silverware in more than seven years, following a staggering revival and could finally deliver their passionate fans an elusive title.
Onwards and upwards.
What are your thoughts? Let us know by dropping a comment below via our Facebook comment box. Make sure you follow us on Twitter @Outside90 and like us on Facebook.
