Another big weekend of A-League action saw reigning champions Brisbane Roar dish out yet another football lesson, this time to Adelaide United.
Despite falling behind inside five minutes at Suncorp Stadium to Dario Vidosic's early strike for the Reds, Brisbane kicked into gear with five goals in 15 minutes on the way to a 7-1 romp which took their unbeaten streak to 32 games.
Albanian international Besart Berisha scored four for the Roar, three of which came in the first half, whilst Brazilian winger Henrique converted twice from the penalty spot and substitute Issey Nakajima-Farran got in on the act with a late finish to send his three points clear at the top of the table.
In Gosford on Saturday, last season's runners-up Central Coast Mariners recorded their first victory of the season with a 2-1 come-from-behind home win over Perth Glory who had won all three of their outings prior. Matt Simon canceled out Travis Dodd's earlier header just before the half-hour mark before Australia U20 international Bernie Ibini-Isei grabbed the eventual winner on the stroke of half-time.
Saturday also gave us some late drama in Melbourne as the Heart were cruelly denied their first win of the season due to an injury time goal from Sydney FC's Nick Carle. Brazilian import Maycon scrambled the ball home in the 88th minute and it looked as though the home side would pick up maximum points until Carle leveled in the 94th minute with the last kick of the match which kept the Heart at the foot of the table and allowed Sydney to jump to sixth.
On Sunday, Melbourne Victory finally scored their first goals of the campaign which led to a vital 2-1 away win at Wellington Phoenix. The usually free-scoring Victory had yet to hit the target in three outings but managed to break the deadlock in the 42nd minute when Archie Thompson provided a neat finish following a nice piece of individual play. That led to a second goal just over 20 minutes from time when Thompson was brought down in the area by Ben Sigmund, causing the demise of the Phoenix centre-half who was sent off, with Carlos Hernandez converting from the spot to make it 2-0. Wellington hit back through Dani Sanchez later but it was not enough to deny the Victory their first win of the season.
And in Robina, Gold Coast United got the better of Newcastle Jets with a 3-1 home result which brought about the debut goal from former Blackburn Rovers striker Maceo Rigters.
He was joined by Kristian Rees and James Brown on the scoresheet - netting either side of Jobe Wheelhouse's goal - as United grabbed their first win in front of a paltry crowd at Skilled Park.
A-League 2011/12 season scores - Week 4
Brisbane Roar: 7 (Henrique (p) 21'/(p) 36', Besart Berisha 23'/26'/29'/69', Issey Nakajima-Farran 81') Adelaide United: 1 (Dario Vidosic 5') Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
Central Coast Mariners: 2 (Matt Simon 27', Bernie Ibini-Isei 45') Perth Glory: 1 (Travis Dodd 6') Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford - 6,883
Melbourne Heart: 1 (Maycon 88') Sydney FC: 1 (Nick Carle 90+4') AAMI Park, Melbourne - 5,666
Wellington Phoenix: 1 (Dani Sanchez 71', red card: Ben Sigmund 66') Melbourne Victory: 2 (Archie Thompson 42', Carlos Hernandez (p) 68') Westpac Stadium, Wellington
Gold Coast United: 3 (Maceo Rigters 11', Kristian Rees 58', James Brown 83') Newcastle Jets: 1 (Jobe Wheelhouse 68') Skilled Park, Robina - 2,974
