I may not have seen it, but I do believe it! The Victory have scored their first goals at Hindmarsh Stadium, and recorded an impressive 3-1 win over Adelaide United. Although most of Melbourne got their pay tv back by mid afternoon, my coverage was still down and out at kickoff, and my only basis for analysis of the game has been the descriptions of SEN radio’s Michael Zappone and Paul Trimboli. You can read a match report here.

Whenever Melbourne look like they’ve reverted to the bad habits of last season, and the “slide” has started, they do something to break the trend, and that something is take goalscoring chances when they present. The finishing of last season’s villain Danny Allsopp is the reason Melbourne fans are seeing more goals hit the net, Allsopp is now a hero, up to 9 goals for the season, triple his tally of 3 from 2005/6. Just when it looked like the Victory were going to succumb to 15 solid minutes of second half Adelaide pressure and go 2-1 down, a quick transition of play saw them 2-1 up (from the boot of Allsopp) against the run of play.

Tonight’s win was sweetened for Melbourne by the pathetic run Adelaide are on at the moment, a three game losing streak and a guarantee of ultra-veteran Romario starting their next two games. John Kosmina was tactically hamstrung tonight; the dismissal of Robert Bajic meant Travis Dodd was the sacrificial lamb, when a non-guest star of Romario’s age would have been the obvious man to sub off for the new goalkeeper. If Adelaide takes football like tonight’s foul-heavy and card riddled rubbish into Asia, the only reason Melbourne won’t be in the Champions League in 2008 will be the fact Australian clubs have been relegated to the Confederations or President’s Cup.

The win means Melbourne go into next Friday’s fixture against Sydney FC with top spot very nearly wrapped up. Although they’d need results to go their way to seal top of the table next week, it is a formality that the remaining rounds will see Melbourne take the minor premiership. I said it last weekend, and I’ll stress it again, if you’re not a member, pre-book a ticket! It’s being rumoured that 37,000 of the 52,000 odd seats inside Telstra Dome are already spoken for.

There is some big news breaking at the lower levels of Victorian football, with the state federation announcing the V-League would be launched in 2008. A restructure of the current Vodafone Cup league in which stadium requirements, board and admin requirements, salary cap, and league size will all be overhauled. While this proposal will have no effect on the Victory in the near future, its long term effects in terms of attracting the best 2nd tier professionals and best youth prospects to the state could be profound. Here’s hoping the bickering about the “ethnicity” of the 12 clubs ultimately chosen to play in the league doesn’t alienate potential fans, only attracted to the game by the transparency of the A-League and Victory.

So, for everyone not in Melbourne next Friday, get on the internet and go to SEN radio for the match call from Zapper and Trimmers, and read live text commentary courtesy of yours truly on the Victory website. Kickoff 8pm Melbourne time.

And you can always read what the most passionate fans have to speak about on the Victory Forum.