Round 3

Thus far into the season, the three teams tipped to take the top positions on the ladder come season's end - Melbourne Victory, Sydney FC and Melbourne Heart - have failed to fire. In Round 3, this trend continued as the big guns couldn't seem to fire. Gold Coast had the bye this week.

Adelaide United 3 - 2 Melbourne Heart
The greasy pitch at Hindmarsh Stadium seemed to suit Adelaide's quick strike force of Matthew Leckie and Iain Ramsey, the latter of which was a late replacement for Sergio van Dijk. Leckie turned his Heart opponent within the first two minutes to calmly finish through the legs of Clint Bolton. The game then settled as both teams found their passing radars, without really penetrating the final thrid. Heart were rewarded just before half time as dutch import Rutger Worm's sublime header finished in the back of the net thanks to a whipping Dean Heffernan cross. Ramsey opened his account just after the break only for Babalj to slot home the equaliser. Michael Marrone continued to cause trouble for the Reds defence down the right hand side. Just as it looked like the spoils would be shared, a fair result considering the even contest, Ramsey played a clever one-two with Reds no.10 Marcos Flores and finished, again through the legs of Bolton.
Scorers: Adl (Leckie 2', Ramsey 52', 88') Melb (Worm 42', Babalj 74')  Crowd: 7,370 at Hindmarsh Stadium.

Perth Glory 1 - 0 Newcastle Jets
A goal to first half substitute Branko Jelic was enough to seal victory for Perth, who are now the form team of the competition. A Todd Howarth volley was parried by Jets keeper Ben Kennedy stright into the shoulder of Jelic, which then ricocheted into the net. The Glory striker was an early substitue for former socceroo Mile Sterjovski who had injured himself. The game itself was fairly lacklustre, with both coaches echoing those sentiments after the game. Jets coach Branko Culina felt only some of his players turned up to play, while Glory coach Dave Mitchell admitted 'we've not played the best today'.
Scorers: Per (Jelic 45')  Crowd: 12,031 at Members Equity Stadium

Brisbane Roar 1 - 0 Sydney FC
Another impressive performance by Ange Postecoglou's men who have been the surprise packet of the season thus far. If anything, the scoreline was flattering for the sky blues who were dominated in all aspects of the game, especially possession where the Roar led 60 per cent to 40. Brisbane skipper Matt McKay finished off a lovely passing sequence in the 53rd minute and this was enough to seal the three points. Sydney were playing without main men Alex Brosque and Mark Bridge but coach Vitezslav Lavicka did not search for excuses. 'The Roar played very well. Full credit to the home team, they created a lot of chances', he said.
Scorers: Bri (McKay 53')  Crowd: 10,339 at Suncorp Stadium.

Wellington Phoenix 2 - 0 Central Coast Mariners
The Caketin again played host to another Phoenix win, with the usual suspects chipping in for the victory. Manny Muscat kicked off proceedings with a clever build up and subsequent cut back that found Leo Bertos in point blank region. The Mariner's  one chance in the first half fell to last week's goal scorer Matt Simon who headed wide. Paul Ifill then sealed the game on the hour mark. On the outside of his left foot, Ifill sent the ball screeching past Jess Vanstrattan and ensured goal of the round honours.
Scorers: Well (Bertos 10', Ifill 61')  Crowd: 9,500 at Westpac Stadium.

Melbourne Victory 2 - 2 North Queensland Fury
By far and away the match of the round, North Queensland again showed fighting spirit to hold on for a valuable draw. They did it the hard way, with two straight red cards ensuring they finished the game with nine men. The Fury took the lead through Ugandan striker Eugene SSeppuya but suffered a costly one-two punch when Chris Grossman brought down Robbie Kruse in the box which not only gifted Victory a penalty, which Muscat converted, but also left them with 10 men after Grossman was sent off. The game was locked at one-all at half time, but it was after the break that the game really kicked into life. Melbourne were doing all the attcking and, after several penalty shouts were turned down, finally gained their second for the match when newly signed Welsh winger Geoff Kellaway was brought down just inside the area. Again, Muscat converted the ensuing penalty. However, in another twist, the referee awarded North Queensland a penalty 10 minutes from time after some seemingly harmless push and shove whilst waiting for a Fury corner. Former Sydney man Chris Payne stepped up to the plate and, like Muscat's first, slammed it down the middle to beat Petkovic. In amongst this, Akoto had been sent off for a push on Muscat and had to be restrained by his teammates and coach. Despite a flurry of corners and subsequent shots on goal, the Victory were unable to snatch the winner in the dying minutes.
Scorers: Melb (Muscat 30'p, 75'p)  NQF (Sseppuya 15', Payne 82')  Crowd: 13,318 at AAMI Park.