And Round 4 of the National Youth League proved just that. For some teams, nothing was going right. For others, it was like Christmas had come early.

As is the unpredictable nature of the competition, last season's champs fell to last season's chumps in a thrilling encounter where the champions never looked like they were in the game - a contradiction of their recent form and last season's championship triumph.

For others, points were lost where they should've been won. In several instances, the referee's whistle or the linesman's flag would cause them to rue their missed chances. Other teams got lucky and escaped through last minute penalties, saves and misses.

And for some, nothing would hit the back of the net.

Inaugural National Youth League champions, Sydney FC, suffered a rare defeat at the hands of a rampant Central Coast Mariners side who blasted three goals past an otherwise unbreached defence to win the 3 points on Saturday afternoon.

Coming into the round, the Mariners were yet to record a win but, arguably, they had an advantage with 4 senior team members lining up - Brad Porter, Lachlan Cahill, Matthew Crowell and Ahmad Elrich.

However, it was Sydney who scored first - Joel Chianese blasting one in from the edge of the penalty area to make it 1-0 after just 2 minutes of play. The Mariners were lucky not to concede a further goal as Hussein Akil and Adam Casey both threatened the goal of Matthew Ryan.

Yet, as the second half progressed, it was the Mariners who dominated play and fought their way back into the match courtesy of a magnificent strike from former Australian youth international Lachlan Cahill.

The Mariners started the second half well, with Mitchell Mallia scoring in the 42^nd minute and captain, Panny Nikas, making it 3-1 in the 51^st minute.

Sydney were denied a comeback in the last few minutes with Iain Ramsey being ruled offside.

The bleak and rainy conditions around the stadium summed up the game for Sydney as the reigning champions tasted defeat for the first time in a long time.

Sydney FC 1 (Chianese 2')

Central Coast Mariners 3 (Cahill 42', Mallia 47', Nikas 51')

The Australian Institute of Sport continued their disappointing start to their inaugural National Youth League campaign, falling to a last-minute Million Buttshire penalty against the Perth Glory ME Bank Stadium on Saturday.

The AIS led twice during the match courtesy of a brace from ex-Perth NYL star Eli Babalj, however, a 21^st minute screamer from Ludovic Boi and an equaliser at 71 minutes to Buttshire levelled the scores to 2-2.

It was anyone's game as the winless AIS continued to pester the Glory goal until the final whistle.

But it was the hosts who could count themselves lucky as they escaped with the 3 points after a penalty was awarded to the Glory in the 90^th minute. Former Mariner, Glen Trifiro, was victim to a vicious tackle from Trent Sainsbury and Million Buttshire converted to make it 3-2 to the Glory.

The AIS are now pointless after 3 matches.

Perth Glory 3 (Boi 21, Buttshire 71, 90p)

AIS 2 (Babalj 5, 32)

Victory Youth recorded their third draw in a row as they were held 1-1 by a compelling Brisbane Roar side on Sunday afternoon.

Victory captain Aziz Behich threatened throughout the game and managed to get himself on the scoresheet from an astounding left-footed free kick in the 25^th minute.

Both teams pressed on until half time and the second half was no different.

The game could've gone either way, however, it was Roar who equalised in the 64^th minute, care of another free kick, this time from their captain, Luke Bratten.

Roar continued to threaten the Victory goal but in the dying minutes, Victory had a late chance to secure the three points. Once again, it was Behich who terrorised Roar keeper Luke Muir, who was somewhat fortunate to escape as Behich fired his shot over the crossbar to leave the score at 1-1.

Melbourne Victory 1 (Behich 25)

Brisbane Roar 1 (Bratten 74)

Adelaide continued their positive start to the season with a 1-0 win over an unlucky Newcastle Jets side at Hindmarsh Stadium on Sunday.

The first half was fairly uneventful with neither side creating any serious chances. However, it was Adelaide who went into the change rooms with the advantage at half time after they earned a penalty in the 41^st minute. Captain Matthew Mullen converted it to make it 1-0.

Newcastle fought back after the break and had several good chances. The draw was within their grasp, only for Adrian Karakolevski to be ruled slightly offside after he put the ball in the back of the net in the 78^th minute.

The Jets had many chances to make it 1-1, most notably through Jason Naidovski and Damian Brosque but the Reds defence stood strong and denied the Jets the chance to claim a share of the points.

Adelaide United 1 (M. Mullen 41)

Newcastle Jets 0

National Youth League 2009/10 Ladder

P = played | W = wins | D = draws | L = losses | F = goals for | A = goals against | GD = Goal Difference | Pts = points

National Youth League 2009/10 - Leading Goal-Scorers

4 - Kerem BULUT

3 - Chris HAROLD, Panny NIKAS

2 -  Eli BABALJ, Aziz BEHICH, Million BUTSHIIRE, Ludovic BOI, Josh MCVEY, Jason NAIDOVSKI,

1 - Joel ALLWRIGHT, Terry ANTONIS, Scott BALDERSON, Fabian BARBIERO (OA), Andrew BARISIC, Luke BRATTAN, Lachlan CAHILL (OA), Joel CHIANESE, Eugene DADI (OA), David D'APUZZO (OA), Matthew DEMO, Mate DUGANDZIC, Ryan EDWARDS, Kingsley FRANCIS, Evan KOSTOPOULOS, Adam KWASNIK (OA), Mitchell MALLIA, Dane MILOVANOVIC, Francesco MONTEROSSO, Matthew Mullen (OA), Steven PACE (OA), Chris PAYNE, Inseob SHIN, Tim SMITS, Stefan VRBESIC, Ben WEARING, Reuben WAY, Liam WOODING

Next Round