There is a new coach at Sydney FC. Alessandro Del Piero was everywhere – talking, pointing, yelling, cajoling, directing, instructing and where necessary, giving his teammates a piece of his mind and delivering a half time spray of epic proportions.

One swallow may not a summer make but this was the Sky Blues’ best performance of the season, and by some margin. There is still massive room for improvement but all the elements were finally there – solid keeping, a watertight defence, a midfield that worked AND created and an attack ever ready to pounce.  If this were horse racing the team would be swabbed.

We hardly began in style, the Mariners taking control early on and only desperate Sydney defence denying the visitors clear sights at goal. We were never completely out of it in the first half however, playing well on the break and refusing to succumb to the temptation of going long.

Nonetheless, the home side spent much of the opening stanza hour chasing shadows, Central Coast passing and moving with the assuredness of a side that came to collect and expected to once again steamroll. Sydney didn’t help its own cause with some profligate passing, Adam Griffiths and young Peter Triantis guilty early on while the Mariners didn’t help theirs with chances they should have buried, finally a bit of luck smiling on the Sky Blues.

There is a saying that a team must earn the right to play football – a euphemism for imposing yourself on the contest physically and then gaining sufficient possession and confidence to introduce your own passing game into the contest. This was one such occasion, Sydney fighting a war of attrition early on and chasing down everything in sight. And when the passing game finally came together, Abbas, Emerton and Del Piero were most prominent, with Triantis improving by the minute and justifying Farina’s faith.

The second half was all Sydney, the Mariners now reduced to working overtime to keep up with the Sky Blues. There was little they could do as Sydney finally found a gear that they’ve lacked all season, passing with fluency, confidence and verve and almost completely dominating the stunned table-toppers.

Refereeing was decent enough, Peter Green’s consistency leading to a clean and exciting contest. The novice will see two red cards and assume a violent game took place but it was nothing of the kind, both sides intent on playing the ball rather than the man. The Mariners’ frustration that spilled over in extra time must be taken in the context of a side that expected an easy victory and instead found itself on the receiving end. It was certainly not a spiteful match, which isn’t to excuse the two guilty visitors - Hutchison’s tackle could well have been worthy of a straight red, while as a Socceroo fan I can only hope that Rogic’s potential career-ender on Grant was an aberration, and that Rhyan Grant is OK to play next week.

As for the player on the receiving end like no other the last few weeks, Del Piero was all class and quality, showing the kind of fighting spirit that is expected of Sydney’s spiritual leader. For the first time looking fully integrated with his teammates, his was a supreme individual performance within a team framework. He was everywhere – gliding past his markers with ease, holding and releasing up front, involving himself in passing sequences in midfield and on occasions even dropping into the backline to distribute from deep. If he keeps this form the rest of the season and the referees treat him fairly as he was by Green, Sydney may well climb out of the mess in which they find themselves. As things stand, he has dragged us from the bottom all the way up to ninth spot. Well, it’s a start.

He was far from alone. The entire backline was outstanding while Brett Emerton was finally back to something resembling his best, playing the role of a right sided midfielder rather than winger, and it is a role that suits him well. And his lobbed header was a peach.  Meanwhile, Abbas was the metronome, brilliant on the ball and putting in a solid effort that included covering every blade of grass up and down the left half of the field.

Up front Blake Powell showed hunger and quality while Yaira Yau was always a handful. But it was Yau's replacement, 18 year old Alec Urosevski, who really caught the eye. The Kerem Bulut lookalike showed great pace and fighting qualities, but most importantly he looks a footballer with an excellent first touch, intelligence of movement and ability to play with his head up.

Triantis? Sherlock?  Urosevski? Is there a Farina-led revolution in the Sky Blue camp? We’ll find out in coming weeks, but on this performance no Sydney player who took the field at Allianz Stadium deserves to be left out of the New Year’s Eve fixture at Hindmarsh.

Sydney were outstandinng for their three points while the Mariners may well have suffered a touch of complacency. And as the game ground to a halt while security struggled with a drunken streaker (is there another kind?) who ran onto the field in the second half, it was worthy to note that he wasn't the only man on the field caught with his pants down.

In all it was a great night, the cellar dwelling Sky Blues finally giving their long-suffering fans something to cheer about to take what is currently the biggest scalp in the Australian game and climb off the bottom of the table. I’d rather be in the Mariners' shoes that ours, but the Sydney victory did much to restore the fans’ shaken confidence and the players’ morale, post-match celebrations showing how much the win meant to fan and player alike, the Cove celebrating long into the night.

Two difficult away assignments and lots of frequent flyer points see us travel across to Adelaide and Perth in the upcoming week. I would be thrilled with four points from the tough road trips, but all six would be a wonderful achievement and drag us back into the table contest. As Farina said post-match, we must find the consistency to perform as we did against the Mariners week in, week out.

And I would like to wish everyone a Happy and healthy New Year, no matter who you support. And hope  that my club's 2013 is happier than everyone else’s. In a footballing context I can wish for little else, save for a rejuvenated Socceroo side to qualify for football's biggest tournament. Finally something we can all agree on.