A-League Round 3 saw Gold Coast United consolidate their spot on top of the table with a 2-0 win over Adelaide United on Friday night. The highly-rated franchise became the only team to win all three matches in the 2009/10 season as their counterparts, North Queensland Fury sank to three losses after losing 1-0 at home to reigning champions Melbourne Victory.
In Adelaide on Friday night, Shane Smeltz notched up his sixth goal for the season and Steve Fitzsimmons scored his first for Gold Coast as Miron Bleiberg's accounted for Aurelio Vidmar's Reds.
Adelaide United: 0 Gold Coast United: 2 (Shane Smeltz '13, Steve Fitzsimmons '51)
Venue: Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide Referee: Matthew Breeze Crowd: 12,741 Yellow cards:Adel - Travis Dodd '17, Eugene Galekovic '77, Robert Cornthwaite '86 GCU - Steve Fitzsimmons '23, Bas van den Brink '40, Steve Pantelidis '82
On Saturday afternoon, fierce rivals Central Coast Mariners and Sydney FC played out a 0-0 draw at Blueontgue Stadium.
Sky Blues keeper Clint Bolton pulled off an injury time penalty save to deny Adam Kwasnik and the Mariners taking all three points.
Central Coast Mariners: 0 Sydney FC: 0
Venue: Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford Referee: Strebre Delovski Crowd: 10,029 Yellow cards:CCM - John Hutchinson '77 Syd - Sung-Hwan Byun '29, Karol Kisel '78
In Townsville on Saturday evening, Melbourne Victory notched up their first win of the season with a solid 1-0 over a much-improved but sill winless North Queensland Fury outfit.
Archie Thompson netted the only goal, after a lovely pass from Adrian Leijer who re-signed from English club Fulham just days prior to the match.
North Queensland Fury: 0 Melbourne Victory: 1 (Archie Thompson '45)
Venue: Dairy Farmers Stadium, Townsville Referee: Peter Green Crowd: 6,514 Yellow cards:NQF - nil Mel - Surat Sukha '28
Sunday saw Wellington Phoenix grab a late equaliser to take a point home with them from Brisbane.
The Roar hit the front early through Dutchman Sergio van Dijk but Phoenix's British import Chris Greenacre headed home five minutes from time to snatch a point.
Brisbane Roar: 1 (Sergio van Dijk '10) Wellington Phoenix: 1 (Chris Greenacre '85)
Venue: Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane Referee: Chris Beath Crowd: 7,084 Yellow cards:Bri - Danny Tiatto '57, Bob Malcom '61, Craig Moore '75, Tommy Oar '86, Tommy Oar '88, Mitch Nichols '90, Robbie Kruse '90+4 Wel - Manny Muscat '45, Michael Ferrante '67 Red cards:Bri - Tommy Oar '88
Finally, Perth Glory recorded their first win of the season with an impressive 2-0 win over the Newcastle Jets in slipper conditions at Members Equity Stadium.
Midfielder Wayne Srhoj netted for the Glory in the 24th minute before Adriano Pellegrino doubled the lead with a brilliant right-foot shot in the 73rd.
Perth Glory: 2 (Wayne Srhoj '24, Adriano Pellegrino '73) Newcastle Jets: 0
Venue: Members Equity Stadium, Perth Referee: Craig Zetter Crowd: 9,398 Yellow cards:Per - Adriano Pellegrino '48, Naum Sekulovski '53, Jacob Burns '62 New - Ben Kantarovski '5, Sasho Petrovski '23, Fabio Vignaroli '30, Sean Rooney '45+1, Ljubo Milicevic '45+1
