YES, Gold Coast United were lucky. But like they say, you make your own luck. And a rejuvenated United squad fully deserve to be back on top of the A-League table.

We still haven't seen the best of Miron Bleiberg's boys, but last week's signs of resurgence proved no illusion. Club Culina were again playing with passion, confidence and flair, and I thought the game was always in our hands. If chance played a part in the final result, it was certainly well earned.

OK, so Culina's goal deflected in off Neville, but it was a well-hit penalty in any case. And sure, two Glory defenders collided comically to gift Smeltz his 10th goal, but the loose ball was well finished by Porter, who definitely deserved something for yet another solid game (particularly with Pim in the stands, wondering how many of these Perth and GCU players might be in his A-roos squads early next year).

I'll even concede that Jelic's late offside would have been allowed nine times out of ten (apparently his shoulder was offside, the rest of him wasn't) but Gold Coast have been on the other end of some even tougher calls already this year. So suck it up, Purple Pie Men!

In retrospect, maybe the late withdrawal of Mile Sterjovski was an omen: Lady Luck was on her way to the Glitter Strip, and she's welcome back any time.

But they are slippery fish, these Perth boys. They remind me of flathead.

If you've ever caught a flathead, you know how hard it can be to put them out of their misery. They have sharp spikes and are covered in thick goo, which makes it hard just to get a good grip on them. The also have a solid spine, which makes it even harder, once you've got a grip, to snap their necks.

So sometimes the most humane thing you can do, once you've hauled them in, is just whack them over the head with a hammer. Or failing that, grab them by the tail and smack their ugly heads against the gunwale of your boat.

We really should have put Perth out of their misery when we were ahead 1-0, and we should have finished them off quickly when we went 2-1 up. Instead we left them flailing about, and they nearly caused an upset. Next time, Miron, bring a hammer. Or maybe, just leave Tahj Minniecon out there to finish them off.

I thought Tahj was having his best game this season before he came off for Caravella. His experience with the U20 squad in Egypt seems to have inspired a whole new level of technical artistry, and a few goals are surely on the way soon.