It was a bad tempered first 45 as numerous clashes saw plenty of push and shove between the sides with one incident involving Danny Tiatto emptying both benches as he received his marching orders.

United however were able to keep their heads as goals from Bruce Djite and Lucas Pantelis ended Queensland’s dream of finishing the regular season as Premiers.

“The first 18 minutes I didn’t think we played that well at all,” said Frank Farina. “It was probably the worst first 20 minutes we’ve played this year.”

“We just didn’t move the ball and keep possession that first 18-20 minutes before they scored.”

“I thought we kept better possession in the second half even though we were taking a lot of risks.”

“We didn’t have any shots on target but to have that amount of set pieces I expect better and we didn’t even get a shot on target from there.”

Danny Tiatto will now miss at least the first week of the finals against Sydney through suspension after he was caught by the linesman for sticking out a left jab to the face of Travis Dodd.

Farina said he’d be speaking to Tiatto during the week about the incident with the combative midfielder and will be awaiting clarification from the FFA on the length of the suspension.

A win would have been enough for Queensland to clinch top spot and an ACL place but instead Roar will now have to face up to playing Sydney in an elimination semi final.

“We knew any victory tonight would have been enough to win the league so obviously it’s a major disappointment,” said captain Craig Moore.

“First half you’d have probably thought it was Adelaide going for the title and not Queensland Roar.”

“That part was disappointing, if we showed the same commitment in the first half as we showed in the second it might have been a different story.”

Due to an “honest mistake” by the Roar kit man Queensland played the match in their orange home strip causing some difficulty for spectators and fans watching at Hindmarsh and on TV.

But according to Craig Moore it was a non issue for the players on the field.

“Are you winding me up?” said Moore. “That’s one of the worst questions I’ve ever heard.”