A couple of gears above the standard A-League fare, though only Liam Reddy, of Queensland Roar, produced a save a genuine note. Roar simply took advantage of two instances of slack Central Coast Mariners' defending. Pedj Bojic was left on his heels for Mitch Nichols' opening goal, who was also brought down by a trailing Paul O'Grady boot for Roar's penalty, which was duly converted by Sergio van Dijk.
Plenty of pace and passion in a game decided by two individual errors.
MATCH RATINGS:
Queensland Roar:
L Reddy: 7 - Kept a clean sheet and produced a great save from Paul O'Grady's second-half header immediately after Danny Tiatto's dismissal.
A Packer: 6 - Steady first-half and wasn't unnerved when pushed into centre-half after the break.
C Moore: 7 - Influence grew in the second-half. Rarely tested after the break.
J McLoughlin: 5 - Struggled to handle Matt Simons in the first-half, limped off before the break.
D Tiatto: 7 - Fortunate not to be sent-off in the first-half, remained influential before finally seeing red for a reckless challenge on Macallister.
T Minniecon: 5 - Quiet. Had little influence on game.
M McKay: 9 - Outstanding player on the night. Industrious, aggressive and showed great leadership throughout the 90 minutes.
M Murdocca: 6 - Consistent, mobile, without having a big influence.
M Zullo: 4 - Struggled with pace and physical needs of finals football.
M Nicholls: 5 - Scored one, created the other. But was rarely sighted in between.
S van Dijk: 7 - Good outlet for Roar when under the cosh in first-half. Worked the Mariners back four for the full 90.
Subs: Hyuk-Su Seo (45' for McLoughlin) 5, I Cernak (90' for Minniecon), C Miller (74' for Nichols) 6., G McMaster (gk), T Oar
D Vukovic: 5 - Conceded twice without being tested by Roar attack.
B Porter: 5 - Ineffective going forward.
P O'Grady: 5 - Poor tackle to give away penalty. Telling that he was closest to giving Mariners a goal.
A Wilkinson: 6 - Solid second-half, but was often fighting a lone battle.
P Bojic: 8 - Caught out for opening Roar goal. Outstanding going forward and rarely undone by Roar's much-hyped wingers.
A Caceres: 6 - Was in and out of the game until surprisingly substituted in the second-half.
M Osman: 6 - Excellent first-half in holding role, but overrun after the break.
A Gumprecht: 5 - Ineffective.
J Hutchison: 4 - Regularly caught in possession and struggled to hit his passing targets. Mariners needed more from one their most consistent performers.
M Simon: 6 - Outstanding first-half. Took a heavy knock just before the break and struggled to recover after halftime.
D Macallister: 5 - For his talent, should be doing a lot more at this level.
Subs: A Clark (67' for Gumprecht) 5, Mrdja (62' for Caceres) 4, Petrovski (70' for Simon) 6, Boogaard, Redmayne (gk)
