A hundred for Hindmarsh

When Adelaide United FC tackles Melbourne Victory this Friday night, Hindmarsh Stadium will reach a significant Hyundai A-League milestone.

Come kick-off on Friday, the South Australian iconic boutique purpose built football stadium will become the first venue to host 100 Hyundai A-League matches. Of the 99 Hyundai A-League fixtures played at Hindmarsh to date, there have been 281 goals scored, 160 of which have been for Adelaide United.

The Reds have played all but four of their Hyundai A-League home games at the ground, with the other four having been held at the Adelaide Oval. It is a significant milestone for the stadium, which was built in 1960 and has been the stage of many historic and memorable sporting occasions.

For the hundredth Hyundai A-League game at Hindmarsh, it is somewhat fitting that number 100 comes in a game that sees the Reds face their fiercest of rivals, Melbourne Victory.

The teams have played 11 times previously at the stadium, United-s record against the Victory standing at five wins, four losses and two draws.

To help mark this special milestone, we thought we would spend the next couple of days looking back and reliving some of the best and most memorable Hyundai A-League games at Hindmarsh Stadium.

Go to the club-s Facebook page or official Twitter account (using hash tag #Reds) and tell us what would make your top five. Here are a few to get you thinking…

1-Jan-06 v Brisbane Roar (result 4-2)
Goal scorers: Veart 29-, Qu 30-, Rech 40-/63-
New Years Day and the Reds welcomed 2007 with a bang as strike trio Carl Veart, Fernando Rech and Shengqing Qu all got in on the act against the then Queensland Roar. Rech scored his second just after the hour mark to ensure the three points.

8-Sep-06 v Newcastle Jets (result 5-1)
Goal scorers: Fernando 8-/73-, Cornthwaite 19-, Qu 27-, Durante (og) 65-
A goal fest that could easily have seen more than six scored. Defender Robert Cornthwaite netted his first A-League goal and Shengqig Qu fired home a dazzling free kick as the Reds took a 3-0 lead inside half an hour. Some wayward finishing from both sides was the only thing that prevented the score in this entertaining end to end encounter from finishing even higher.

5-Nov-06 v Perth Glory (result 3-2)
Goal scorers: Veart (pen) 16-, Owens 24-, Kemp 57-
A pulsating first half that saw four goals before super sub Matthew Kemp-s amazing 57th minute flick from the acutest of angles proved the decider.

1-Dec-06 v Melbourne Victory (result 1-3)
Goal scorers: Fernando 42-
For the Reds supporter, this game was more about the crowd and the drama than the result as 16,378 people packed into Hindmarsh on a Friday night to see the bitter rivals go at it. The Reds found themselves down to ten men in just the 16th minute after goalkeeper Robbie Bajic saw red for a foul on Fred, but it was soon 10v10 when Victory midfielder Grant Brebner was given his marching orders. The highly charged contest also saw Romario in a Reds shirt, but even glimpses of the Brazilian-s brilliance could not pierce the Victory block of flats at the back as Fred iced the game in the 86th minute.

14-Jan-07 v Sydney FC (result 1-0)
Goal scorers: Fernando 89-
A Sunday afternoon special between two of the league-s heavyweights as the Reds scored just their second win over the Sky Blues. In a fairytale finale, Dutchman Bobby Petta and United-s two Brazilians Diego and Fernando combined to send the 14,704 home crowd into delirium. In a high voltage contest between last season-s Premiers and Champions, both sides had chances to win but a scrappy goal off of the chest of Fernando late on was enough for United to get the three points.

11-Feb-07 v Newcastle Jets (result – Adelaide United win 4-3 on penalties)
Goal scorers: Veart 57-
Goalkeeper Daniel Beltrame was the hero as Adelaide United defeated the Newcastle Jets in a heart stopping penalty shoot out to make it through to the grand final. It was high drama from start to finish, the scores locked 1-1 at the end of regulation time and then again after extra time. Beltrame reeled off two brilliant saves in a row from Vaughan Coveny and Stuart Musialik to send the Reds through to the decider.

30-Sep-07 v Central Coast Mariners (result 2-1)
Goal scorers: Djite 19-/88-
Two goals from Bruce Djite gave the Reds their first win of the 2007/08 season as they defeated the top of the table Central Coast Mariners. Djite opened the scoring in a highly entertaining contest in the 19th minute, before he chimed in with the winner in the 88th after the Mariner-s Sasho Petrovski had equalised in the 37th minute. Djite-s double were the only two goals the Mariners had conceded up to that point of the season. Will also be remembered for being Richie Alagich-s 100th Adelaide United appearance.

21-Feb-09 v Brisbane Roar (result 1-0)
Goal scorers: Barbiero 25-
A bomb from Fabian Barbiero will forever go down in United folklore as the local Adelaide midfielder-s goal sent the Reds through to the Grand Final. The result also booked Adelaide United a place in the 2010 AFC Champions League, ended the Reds- finals drought and was also a fitting send off to Paul Agostino and Jonas Salley in their final home games.

20-Nov-09 v Gold Coast United (result 1-1)
Goal scorers: Leckie 90+3-
The Reds were forced to dig deep as they came from behind against a ten man Gold Coast United to salvage a point. Deep into injury time just when all seemed lost, young gun Mathew Leckie capped off an eye catching performance as he weaved around Jason Culina and sent a low hard shot past a diving Scott Higgins to the roars of the United faithful.

24-Sep-10 v Perth Glory (result 2-0)
Goal scorers: van Dijk 70-/73- (pen)
The game was decided in the space of a scintillating three minute burst. With the game on a knife edge, Sergio van Dijk struck twice, the first a sublime angled header, to send the Reds six points clear at the top of the table. The result also made it a club record ten straight Hyundai A-League matches without defeat.

21-Jan-11 v North Queensland Fury (result 8-1)
Goal scorers: Flores 4-/37-/89-, Dodd 28-, Ramsay 42-, van Dijk 47-/67-/83-
A crowd of just under 11,000 got to witness the Reds- highest ever score as they ran rampant against a hapless Fury. Marcos Flores and Sergio van Dijk both finished with hat tricks as it rained goals at Hindmarsh. The Reds- only blemish was conceding a goal in the second half.

7-Dec-12 v Melbourne Victory (result 4-2)
Goal scorers: Kostopoulos 3-/32-, Ferreira 22-, Carrusca 25-
Much of the pre game hype centred around former Reds crowd favourite Marcos Flores- first visit back to Hindmarsh after signing with the Victory, and it ended up being a night he would have quickly wanted to forget. Dario Vidosic set the tone early with a solid challenge on the Argentine in the first minute, the Reds going on to score four goals in a stunning opening 32 minutes to effectively put the game out of Melbourne-s reach.