BEST

Five times a charm for Brosquey

Evernew Alex Brosque's fifth strike against the Wanderers was a peach, and a timely reminder of the veteran's continued value to one of the A-League's strongest clubs.

The 21-capped Socceroo now has well over 200 appearances for the Sky Blues over two spells, but looks just as important and dynamic as he ever did - although, while timely goals are a fantastic continuous contribution, the forward looked to struggle as the first half wore on.

A reminder that while he certainly hasn't been replaced, all good things must eventually come to an end.

Duke at the double...sort of

Mitch Duke was everywhere in the first half, but couldn't provide the opening the Wanderers so desperately required.

A constant presence in the box, his ability to be in the right place at the right time (again and again, in the case of Andrew Redmayne's first-half double save) bodes well for the Wanderers next season.

You get the sense that while Oriol Rieras come and go, Duke could make Wanderland a magical place to be for years to come.

Andrew Redmayne

While it was an ultimately even contest, Redmayne kept the Sky Blues alive on many occasions through his agile frame and quick reflexes...that and a few hit-and-hopes from the likes of Giancarlo Gallifuoco and Abraham Majok.

WORST

Crowding the ref

The Wanderers haven't exactly been famed for their discipline under Markus Babbel (the German coach wasn't afraid of chucking a boot in during his career either) but their dispiriting opening 15minutes was a lousy start to the match.

Three yellow cards in a quarter of an hour can be a fiery way to start a derby, sure. But aggressively crowding the referee after a fairly average tackle from Brandon O'Neill is a little OTT. 

A well-deserved yellow to Raul Llorente the only result, but it's a bad look for the game and an undoubtedly intimidating experience for Shaun Evans.

Bloodsport

It's fairly rare that an A-League game should spawn one blood-soaked kit, but between the likes of Roly Bonevacia and Josh Brillante there was enough blood spilled between these two to feed a blood bank. 

That, and fill a Savers with blood-soaked football shirts. A testament to the overall fiery nature of the game, the Wanderers were fighting for pride and fought hard enough to probably convince a decent crowd to pack the Wanderers stadium next season. 

Cavernous stadiums

 

How do you ruin the atmosphere at a Sydney derby? Play it at ANZ Stadium. 

The 83,000 seater venue is sure-fire overkill for virtually any domestic sporting match Australia can chuck at it, but for the over 20,000 passionate fans that attended, it was a shame that there were so many spare seats separating them.

That's not even to mention the question marks hanging over the New South Wales government redeveloping Allianz Stadium to become a supposedly modern, state-of-the-art venue when they've got ANZ Stadium, and the public can only fill it once or twice a year...

Hit and hopes

It's hard to remember the last time that an A-League derby had quite so many wild shots, closer representing a Sunday league who-to than a shot at goal. Let's face it, even Baumjohann's goal was little more than a 'Let's see if this works.'

Paulo Retre wins our award for most ridiculous shot at goal tonight, blazing well above Row Z (at ANZ Stadium no less) to the unbelieving chagrin of Alex Wilkinson. 

The poor skipper looked as if he might need to see a counsellor after witnessing that one.