FROM heroic headers to humiliating howlers, round 8 of the Hyundai A-League provided a mixed bag for fans of Australia's premier division.

With plenty of quality and calamity to cover, let's jump straight into honouring some efforts from the past week.

Goal of the Round

Supporters were treated to a variety of goals from clubs over the past seven days, and with Brisbane Roar racking up four against Melbourne Heart, it is justified that at least one of their efforts makes the awards blog.

For mine, the best goal of Roar's romp came from youngster Mitch Nichols, whose neat wall pass exchange opened space, before he finished calmly with an accurate low drive. Nichols goal perfectly summed up how simple plays executed quickly and precisely can make a mockery of a defence.

Despite the fixture not falling exactly in line with round 8 matches, John Curtis's midweek strike to claim all three points for Gold Coast against Newcastle Jets earns a nomination.

As a Jets fan I was devastated to see the ball hit the back of the net, but Curtis's intent and execution on his less favoured foot was both clear and deadly. The less said about his contribution to his team's away match against Sydney FC though, the better.

But goal of the round this week goes to Sergio van Dijk, who is clearly a fan of the FourFourTwo Australia A-League Awards blog.

Of course, last week van Dijk was feted with the Yakubu Ayegbeni Medal for a Momentous Miss, and determined to feature in the blog for the right reasons this round, headed home a spectacular goal to give the Reds the lead.

Indeed, it is some compliment to van Dijk that his goal instantly reminded me of Jared Borgetti's stunning header for Mexico against Italy at the 2002 World Cup. Find the opportunity to re-live that moment below...

 

Save of the Round

Round 8 showed, once again, how many fine stoppers the A-League is home to.

Thus, it is with miniscule margin that I can pick a winner from this lot.

Take Glen Moss's flying effort to deny Ruben Zadkovich from close range midweek, and Stephan Keller late in Sunday's fixture against Sydney FC.

Or how about Eugene Galekovic's amazing denial of a cheeky Robbie Fowler attempt, or his save from Michael Baird later in the match?

And what would the Save of the Round section be without Clint Bolton. Behind an average defence, Bolton just keeps getting better, with two flying saves in the match against Roar testament to this fact.

But this week I bestow the top honour on Danny Vukovic, whose lightning fast reflexes from an Osama Malik hit in the first half of Phoenix v Fury should put blushes on the faces of Konyaspor's management.

With stops like that, Europe should come calling for Vukovic again shortly.

Calamity James Prize

The keepers this season have, by and large, been ultra impressive.

But, when a goalie produces a moment so calamitous you question if it really just happened, you know it deserves an award.

Come on down, Justin Pasfield.

Justin, some of your saves have been über extraordinary so far this A-League campaign, but I'm sure you'll agree this wasn't your finest moment.

Chin up though, champ, you join a long list of some of the world's best custodians who've shared similarly embarrassing moments.

Such keepers include he of who this award was named after - David James.

Take the following moment James produced, replacing 'Portsmouth' with 'North Queensland', 'Wolfsburg' with 'Wellington', and 'Misimovic' with 'Greenacre', and you simply wouldn't know the difference.

Top Tweets

Once, again, here is a selection of some of the top tweets sent to the #aleague hash-tag over the past week.

behindthegoals predicted John van't Schip's men might like a second chance against Brisbane Roar: "Forget the #AFLGF, Melbourne Heart will want to replay this match next week".

Continuing his commentary of the Roar v Heart match, behindthegoals indicated van't Schip might like to employ a tactic favoured by former Socceroos boss Pim Verbeek: "Colosimo off? JvS is going the reverse Pim - no defenders".

While Gixibyte expressed envy of the AFL: "Bitterly jealous of AFL. I dream of one day seeing 100,000 people come to see Melbourne Victory crush Sydney FC in an #aleague grand final".

Take heart, Gixibyte, one state's obsession with AFL pales in comparison to the world's compulsion with football. Credit to their GF day numbers, but when we have that many attending the A-League final, their game mightn't even exist...

Till next week, enjoy the wonderful world of football...

Follow me on Twitter @BennyONeill