Soccer: Carlton financial woes rebound on leaders

By TERRY MADDAFORD

The postponement of Perth Glory's away game against cash-strapped Carlton cost the West Australians the chance of going to the top of the National Soccer League table.

Previous leaders South Melbourne were surprisingly held to a scoreless draw by struggling Newcastle United. Sydney Olympic (3-2 away winners over Canberra) and Wollongong (2-0 home winners over Sydney United) leap-frogged Perth into a one-point lead over South Melbourne.

Parramatta Power, warming up for their trip to Auckland on Friday night, were the only other team in the top half of the table to win, getting home 2-0 over bottom-placed Eastern Pride with goals from Joe Miller and Ahmad Elrich.

The win marked a record-breaking 446th NSL outing for Parramatta captain Alex Tobin, who could have made it an even more special occasion had he not missed a late penalty.

In another record, Newcastle goalkeeper Bob Catlin, playing in front of almost 6000 home fans (the best for the weekend), became the first NSL goalkeeper to notch 100 clean sheets in keeping South Melbourne at bay.

Canberra, who slipped to 12th place with that loss to Olympic, gave plenty of cheek with Naoki Imaya scoring either side of halftime to give the home side a 2-1 lead after 48 minutes. Substitute Franko Parisi saved the day for Olympic with two goals.

Wollongong got home over Sydney United with second-half goals from Saso Petrovski and Alvin Ceccoli. Adelaide City continued their good recent run with a 2-0 away win over Marconi to edge closer to the top half of the table.

In the feature 11th-round clash, Sydney Olympic are at home to Wollongong Wolves in a true top-of-the-table clash. But Carlton's home game against Newcastle United must be in doubt.