Round 11 of the A-League provided a gutsy ten-man win, two comfortable away victories, a tense draw and a result that put Gold Coast United back on top. In an interesting weekend of matches, Round 11 kicked off on Friday night at a rain-soaked Hindmarsh Stadium with Adelaide United hosting Sydney FC.
The Reds were not expected to win the match from the outset as Sydney were in great form and sitting pretty on top of the table but a determined performance from an Adelaide side which was reduced to ten men in the 8th minute gave us one of the best wins of the season so far.
Adelaide United: 2 (Cristiano '29, '54) Sydney FC: 1 (John Aloisi '78)
Venue: Hindmarsh Stadium Crowd: 10,291 Yellow cards:Ade - Eugene Galekovic '75, Adam Hughes '87, Scott Jamieson '90+1 Syd - Alex Brosque '86 Red cards:Ade - Fabian Barbiero '8
On Saturday, Brisbane Roar faced Central Coast Mariners at Suncorp Stadium minus former coach Frank Farina who was sacked during the week.
Assistant boss Rado Vidosic took the reins as new coach Ange Postecoglou looked on but it did not go to plan for the Roaor who were brushed aside by a rampant Mariners outfit.
Brisbane Roar: 0 Central Coast Mariners: 3 (Nicky Travis '4, John Hutchinson '18, Pedj Bojic '70)
Venue: Suncorp Stadium Crowd: 7,434 Yellow cards:Bri - Craig Moore '71 CCM - Matthew Crowell '28, David D'Apuzzo '86, Matt Simon '88
In Townsville, North Queensland Fury managed a late equaliser to take a share of the points against the visiting Wellington Phoenix.
An early Tim Brown goal was cancelled out six minutes from time by Robbie Fowler but the point did not get the Fury off the bottom of the table whilst the Phoenix remain in 8th.
North Queensland Fury: 1 (Robbie Fowler '84) Wellington Phoenix: 1 (Tim Brown '6)
Venue: Dairy Farmers Stadium Crowd: 6,191 Yellow cards:NQF - Chris Grossman '35, Daniel McBreen '75, Dyron Daal '76 Wel - Andrew Durante '48, Tony Lochhead '78
On Sunday, reigning champions Melbourne Victory recorded a brilliant away win after going a goal down against the Newcastle Jets.
Carlos Hernandez and Archie Thompson ran riot on the second half to guide the Victory to an important win despite being down in the 22nd minute.
The three points pushed Melbourne up to 3rd whilst the Jets went closer to bottom place after a disappointing result.
Newcastle Jets: 1 (Labinot Haliti '22) Melbourne Victory: 3 (Archie Thompson '62, Tom Pondeljak '79, Carlos Hernadez '84)
Venue: EnergyAustralia Stadium Crowd: 6,029 Yellow cards:New - Matt Thompson '4, Adam D'Apuzzo '78 Mel - Grant Brebner '45+1
Finally, Gold Coast United jumped back on top of the table with a 2-1 in over Perth Glory.
An own goal from Perth's Scott Neville got the home team off to a good start before Todd Howarth finished coolly to level the score ten minutes after half-time.
But it was the deadly duo of United's Joel Port and Shane Smeltz that brought about the winner, just a minute after Howarth had equalised.
Gold Coast United: 2 (Scott Neville (og) '13, Shane Smeltz '56) Perth Glory: 1 (Todd Howarth '55)
Venue: Skilled Park Crowd: 4,509 Yellow cards:GCU - Steve Pantelidis '83 Per - Adriano Pellegrino '68, Chris Coyne'90