As far as regular milestone makers go this season, you can’t look past Wellington Phoenix’s Roy Krishna. Since round one of the season, the Fijian has consistently smashed records throughout a hugely positive season for the New Zealanders.
It didn’t take long for Krishna to get started; taking on standing records and then watching them tumble, while establishing new ones, with the A-League’s Golden Boot leader scoring freely throughout 2018/19.
In the opening match of the season, Krishna drew level with Wellington legend Paul Ifill in terms of goals scored for the club, taking his overall tally to 33 goals.
He went on to surpass Ifill on 2 December 2018, becoming the outright leading goal scorer for the club, before claiming his first PFA Player of the Month accolade in January. That came after he scored a unique ‘triple double’ in three matches in January; the first time in A-League history a player had scored three braces in three consecutive matches in competition history.
In his latest record-breaking performance, Krishna netted his first hat-trick for the Nix in a hugely entertaining 3-2 win over Melbourne City on Sunday. The 31-year-old has now scored the most goals in a single season as a Wellington player (18) and in doing so, has reached 50 career goals for the yellow and black.
True to form, Krishna etched his name in the record books in dramatic fashion. His 16th and 17th goals twice gave Wellington the lead at Westpac stadium, while his final goal came in the 94th minute to seal all three points.
Krishna’s second goal on the night meant he overtook All Whites striker Jeremy Brockie, who scored 16 times during the 2012/13 campaign, while his last made him the first player in Wellington’s history to reach 50 goals. Incredible.
Having scored the A-League’s 4,000th goal back in January 2017, Krishna now leads the A-League Golden Boot with 18 goals, two ahead of Sydney FC’s Adam Le Fondre, and could yet add one final milestone to his campaign with that accolade.
While Krishna dominated the headlines, there were two A-League stalwarts who reached the incredible achievement of 250 appearances in the competition.
Mark Bridge, who was part of the A-League’s very first match back in 2005, became the 10th player to make 250 appearances in the A-League, while Adelaide’s Vince Lia also joined the exclusive club.
Bridge enjoyed huge amounts of success during his career; he’s won two A-League titles (with Newcastle Jets in 2008) and Sydney FC 2010) having scoring in both of those Grand Final wins – and won the the Premiership and AFC Champions League with the Wanderers. Now 33, Bridge has scored 59 goals and credits his longevity to perseverance.
“It’s just about your commitment to the game and your commitment to your profession that you hold hope that it all ends up well and I’m one of those fortunate ones where it has turned out pretty well. “
Adelaide’s Lia also secured the 250 match milestone in his second season with the Reds, coming on as a late substitute in the 1-0 win over Melbourne Victory. The Shepparton-born midfielder spent eight seasons across the Tasman with Wellington Phoenix, before joining Adelaide in 2017. Like Bridge, Lia was able to enjoy silverware during his career, lifting the 2018 FFA Cup with United.
Sam Kerr meanwhile reached 100 matches in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL). In her two appearances so far this campaign, Kerr has netted twice in as many games with Chicago Red Stars and now has 61 goals in seven seasons since 2013.
In her second season with the Red Stars, Kerr started her NWSL career with Western New York Flash, before moving to Sky Blue FC for three seasons and then switching to the blue of Chicago.
Back in the A-League, Brisbane Roar’s Zach Duncan netted his first goal for the Roar, while on the opposing side Kwabena Appiah-Kubi scored his first goal in Newcastle Jets colours.
Newcastle – in an impressive 6-1 drubbing of Roar – also injected debutants Jack Simmons and Pat Langlois into the mix as the Jets ran riot courtesy of braces for Roy O’Donovan and Joey Champness and singles to Appiah-Kubi and Dimitri Petratos.
In Perth Glory’s narrow lost to Sydney FC, freshly crowned A-League Premiers unleashed 17-year-old debutant Kristian Popovic, son of Head Coach Tony, to make his debut, with the teenager impressing in his first appearance for his dad’s team.
Kye Rowles scored his first for the Central Coast Mariners, but was later ejected for a dangerous tackle on German midfielder Alexander Baumjohann, souring the occasion for the 20-year-old, despite the Mariners going on to win the contest. Dylan Ruiz Diaz meanwhile came on to make his first appearance for the Mariners in the contest which finished 3-1 to the home side.
