Adelaide United FC 8–1 North Queensland Fury FC

Adelaide United FC

Company type	Football club
Industry	Sports
Headquarters	Adelaide , Australia
Area served	Australia
Key people	Rini Coolen (Head coach)
Products	Football matches, team competitions

The 2010–11 A-League fixture between Adelaide United and North Queensland Fury took place at Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide, on 21 January 2011. Adelaide United triumphed with an 8–1 scoreline, equalling the record for the largest margin of victory in the league's history up to that point.

Following this season, North Queensland Fury ceased operations after finishing at the bottom of the table, whereas Adelaide United secured 3rd position. This placement earned them a spot in the 2012 AFC Champions League qualifying play-off and saw them advance to the semi-finals of the finals series.

Background

Heading into round 24 of the 2010–11 A-League campaign, known as the flood relief round, Adelaide United was contesting second place with Central Coast Mariners, trailing only league leaders Brisbane Roar. Their objective was to clinch a top-four finish and a semi-final berth. Recently, Adelaide had defeated their rivals Melbourne Victory 4–1, marking their first victory against them in nearly three years. On the other hand, North Queensland Fury were struggling near the foot of the standings alongside Perth Glory and Sydney FC, battling to avoid finishing last. Before this encounter, North Queensland Fury had managed just one competitive win against Adelaide; this match would be their final meeting.

Team selection

Adelaide United made two alterations to their lineup following their win over Melbourne Victory: goalkeeper Mark Birighitti was substituted by Eugene Galekovic, and defender Robert Cornthwaite was replaced by Nigel Boogaard.

North Queensland Fury implemented four changes from their previous 0–4 defeat against fellow newcomers Gold Coast United. They introduced Justin Pasfield, Ufuk Talay, Jason Spagnuolo, and David Williams in place of Sebastian Usai, Lorenzo Sipi, Ramazan Tavsancioglu, and Isaka Cernak.

Summary

Marcos Flores opened the scoring for Adelaide United within four minutes, followed by a goal from Travis Dodd at the 28th minute to extend their lead. Goals from Flores again and Iain Ramsay at the 37th and 42nd minutes respectively pushed Adelaide's advantage to 4–0 by halftime. In the second half, Sergio van Dijk completed a hat-trick, while Flores netted his third goal of the game. North Queensland Fury's midfielder Panny Nikas managed a consolation goal in what concluded as an 8–1 defeat for his side.

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width=25 GK 1 Template:Country data AUSTemplate:Namespace detect showall Eugene Galekovic RB 14 Template:Country data AUSTemplate:Namespace detect showall Cameron Watson CB 3 Template:Country data AUSTemplate:Namespace detect showall Nigel Boogaard Template:Suboff CB 4 Template:Country data AUSTemplate:Namespace detect showall Iain Fyfe LB 6 Template:Country data BRATemplate:Namespace detect showall Cássio RM 8 Template:Country data AUSTemplate:Namespace detect showall Adam Hughes CM 10 Template:Country data ARGTemplate:Namespace detect showall Marcos Flores LM 21 Template:Country data URYTemplate:Namespace detect showall Francisco Usúcar Template:Suboff RW 13 Template:Country data AUSTemplate:Namespace detect showall Travis Dodd CF 9 Template:Country data IDNTemplate:Namespace detect showall Sergio van Dijk RW 17 Template:Country data PHITemplate:Namespace detect showall Iain Ramsay Template:Suboff width=25 GK ||20||Template:Country data AUSTemplate:Namespace detect showallMark Birighitti MF ||12||Template:Country data AUSTemplate:Namespace detect showallPaul Reid ||Template:Subon DF ||2 ||Template:Country data AUSTemplate:Namespace detect showallRobert Cornthwaite ||Template:Subon FW ||19||Template:Country data AUSTemplate:Namespace detect showallMatthew Leckie ||Template:Subon Substitutions: Head coach: Template:Country data NEDTemplate:Namespace detect showall Rini Coolen

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GK ||1 ||Template:Country data AUSTemplate:Namespace detect showallJustin Pasfield RB ||2 ||Template:Country data SRITemplate:Namespace detect showallJack Hingert CB ||5 ||Template:Country data WALTemplate:Namespace detect showallMark Hughes CB ||4 ||Template:Country data TOGTemplate:Namespace detect showallEric Akoto LB ||13||André Kilian ||Template:Suboff RM ||12||Template:Country data AUSTemplate:Namespace detect showallPanny Nikas CM ||6 ||Template:Country data AUSTemplate:Namespace detect showallUfuk Talay ||Template:Suboff CM ||14||Template:Country data AUSTemplate:Namespace detect showallChris Grossman ||Template:Suboff LM ||3 ||Template:Country data PNGTemplate:Namespace detect showallBrad McDonald AM ||11||Template:Country data AUSTemplate:Namespace detect showallDavid Williams CF ||21||Template:Country data AUSTemplate:Namespace detect showallJason Spagnuolo

width=25

GK ||28||Template:Country data AUSTemplate:Namespace detect showallSebastian Usai DF ||19||Template:Country data AUSTemplate:Namespace detect showallIsaka Cernak ||Template:Subon MF ||22||Template:Country data AUSTemplate:Namespace detect showallLorenzo Sipi ||Template:Subon MF ||18||Template:Country data AUSTemplate:Namespace detect showallBrett Studman|| Template:Subon

Substitutions:
Head coach:
Template:Country data CZETemplate:Namespace detect showall František Straka

Assistant referees: Daniel Goodwin (Football South Australia#FFSA) Curtis Wordsworth (Football South Australia#FFSA)

style="width:60%; vertical-align:top;"| Match regulations Duration: 90 minutes Four named substitutes allowed Maximum of three substitutions permitted

Aftermath

Adelaide United established new benchmarks for the highest number of goals scored by one team in a single match, the widest victory margin, and the greatest total goals in a game. These achievements briefly elevated them to second place, overtaking Central Coast Mariners. Nevertheless, by the conclusion of the season, they dropped to third position after securing only one win in their final four fixtures. In the opening week of the finals, they triumphed over Wellington Phoenix, but their campaign ended in the semi-finals with a 3–2 defeat against Gold Coast United.

North Queensland Fury ended the season at the bottom of the table, losing every remaining encounter and suffering an eight-match losing streak, with just two victories recorded in their last 20 games. A month following the regular season’s completion, their A-League license was withdrawn, resulting in the club’s closure.