It was a battle of the keepers with both glovesmen keeping their sides in the match in what could and perhaps should have been a high-scoring game if there had been lesser players between the sticks.

But although Victory had their chances, more fell to the Mariners and it was only the brilliance of Michael Theoklitos and then a touch of luck which kept them from recording their fourth straight win.

They still left Melbourne as unbeaten league leaders, having taken on the reigning champions on their home turf and emerged with their perfect clean sheet record intact.

They would have loved to score but with Nick Mrdja unavailable and Sasho Petrovski injured early in the action, yet still able to pose serious problems for Victory, they’ll be more than happy with the result.

The only clouds on an entertaining afternoon were the late red card for Tony Vidmar and the ankle injury to Petrovski - which both could cause Mariners problems next week - and Victory striker Danny Allsopp taken to hospital with suspected broken ribs

The Mariners were already without in-form striker and new Socceroo Mrdja in the starting line-up as they travelled to the Telstra Dome in search of their fourth win in a row.

But they showed they still had plenty of firepower with their first chance seconds after the kick-off when a delightful ball came in and met the head of Petrovski who just pushed it wide.

Adrian Caceres returned the scare for Victory a few moments later when he broke through the Mariners defence and was only stopped by a late challenge from Vidmar after Dean Heffernan was left for dead by the midfielder.

Melbourne’s Roddy Vargas gave away a handball for the second week running, this time just outside the box after last week’s penalty giveaway, but this time he wasn’t made to pay the price and Damien Brown’s freekick chip in was easily cleared.

It was an even affair played at high tempo in the opening exchanges with Danny Allsopp looking hungry for goals. Reunited with Archie Thompson, Allsopp made repeated runs at goal and finally found himself one on one with Danny Vukovic and slammed into the ‘keepers legs from a difficult angle.

From the resulting corner, Allsopp again got onto the ball from the cross and turned his man skilfully to chip it up for Thompson whose header couldn’t quite find the mark, but the Mariners had been warned: Victory were back and looking dangerous.

Meanwhile the Mariners played with confidence, coming into the match as comfortable league leaders and not about to give away their perfect record easily.

They used their width to great advantage down the wings, and combined it with clever dummies upfront from Adam Kwasnik as they tried to wrongfoot the home side.

Petrovski almost made their strategy count when he found the back of the net on the quarter hour but the whistle had blown for a dubious offside call.

Caceres swapped wings as Victory tried to make a breakthrough and made a fantastic run down the left wing before putting a sensational cross into the six yard box. Vukovic rushed out to meet it, but it was intercepted by a high boot from Mile Jedinak who risked an own goal but pushed it out for the corner instead.

Just 24 minutes into the match though, Petrovski was pulled off by manager Lawrie McKinna after Sasho couldn’t run off a twisted ankle suffered five minutes earlier.

Tom Pondeljak took his place, but the Mariners were no less convincing upfront. Kwasnik found himself in front of the box, put in a wonder chip over his man and then unleashed a cracking volley straight at goal but Victory ‘keeper Theoklitos had it covered.

Mariners tried to repeat their sneaky corner trick that paid off against Queensland Roar by playing it short outside the box, but Victory were wise to it.

Thompson intercepted and raced upfield on the counter attack, cutting through the bare Mariners defence, before centring it for Allsopp who returned the favour with Thompson now in the box, bearing down on goal but Vukovic came out and bravely stopped the striker in his stride.

Victory made a surprise swap just after the half hour when an unhappy Caceres made way for Steve Pantelidis after Ernie Merrick was disappointed by the attacking midfielder’s contribution.

Seconds later the Allsopp-Thompson combination almost struck again when Allsopp put a beautiful ball into the box but it was just beyond Archie to add the finishing touch.

Kwasnik gave Victory another reminder of how dangerous Central Coast can be when he got on the end of a long ball and unleashed a first time shot on goal but again without reward.

Meanwhile Thompson nearly sneaked his own goal as he went in hard on a committed Danny Vukovic battling for a high ball coming into the edge of the box. Neither managed to connect properly and it needed the Mariners defence to clear it up with their keeper on the deck in a tangle with Archie.

Leigh Broxham played the otherwise quiet Carlos Hernadez into the action with a lovely ball down the right wing before he let loose a shot from short range which Vukovic fumbled and Archie Thompson tried to slide in on but only won a corner.

The cross came in from the set piece and found Kevin Muscat running in from deep but his header just went wide to deny Victory a lead.

John Hutchinson gave the Mariners another injury scare when he twisted his knee painfully at a freekick but he limped through the last minutes of the half to get treatment at the break.

As the first 45 drew to a close, all the pressure was coming from Victory but the Mariners’ defence was standing firm against the challenge - and Kwasnik’s unpredictable snapshots were always capable of providing a winner.

Hutchinson returned for the second half looking renewed after physio attention in the dressing room and it was the Mariners who controlled the play immediately after the break.

They put together some nice build-up play, passing confidently and bringing the ball almost effortlessly into the box before Kwasnik created enough space to shoot but it was disappointing and easily collected by Theoklitos.

Victory soon fought back and drew corner after corner from the visitors who were happy to defend deep. Vargas jumped well to get on the end of the second corner and made good contact but it was cleared to safety by the unflustered defence.

Young Melbourne Victory midfielder Broxham often showed signs of good speed for his sturdy build and earned a freekick in a promising position when he was brought down by an outpaced Brown, who earned a yellow for the challenge, but the set piece came to nothing.

At the other end, more good patient build up from the Mariners found Jedinak unmarked and on the ball 30 yards out and he unleashed a screamer at goal which forced an exceptional diving save from Theoklitos to keep it out.

Vukovic was required to mimic Theoklitos’s efforts moments later when he pulled off a superb save from a reflex shot from Allsopp on the edge of the box, just managing to get down to the right post in time to push it wide.

With both sides playing good football, neither was dominating and it was anybody’s guess who would score first – but a goal always looked likely.

Daniel Piorkowski earned a yellow for a late challenge on Brown at the edge of the box which gave Mariners a perfect scoring opportunity from the set piece.

Kwasnik lined up to take it against a five man Victory wall and curled it around the defence, looking destined for the back of the net but he was denied by the crossbar, with Theoklitos for once beaten.

Leandro Love came on for the ineffective Hernandez on the hour mark after Thompson had been denied from another drive on the Mariners’ goal.

With 25 minutes still to play, Kwasnik earned an unlucky yellow for time-wasting after being caught offside and collecting the ball, to the fury of referee Mark Shield.

The crowd of 27,315 urged the frustrated home side on as the game threatened to get scrappy in the final 20 minutes with tougher, tired challenges testing the ref’s patience.

Love almost created the goal of the day with a beautiful ball to Thompson who played it perfectly into the box, right into the path of the oncoming Allsopp who only looked like he needed to tap it in to score.

But with the goal at his mercy, he missed it completely and it went through the entire Mariners defence in front of an empty goal without the final touch coming in to put Central Coast to the sword.

Love was a revelation in a roving attacking role, invigorating the Victory attack where Hernandez had been unable to create any excitement, but the Mariners defence were still capable of keeping him in check.

Theoklitos pulled off yet another outstanding save when Pondeljak cut in a superb first touch shot off the side of his boot from a low cross into the box off the left wing.It was pure reflex as Theo flew through the air to meet it.

Leandro kept the Mariners backline under constant pressure with teasing crosses and effective runs up the wing. Victory continued to win an incredible number of corners but just couldn’t get a pay-off.

Five minutes from time, a tempting ball into box earned an appeal for handball but it was dismissed by Shield and Mariners breathed again.

Love created another opportunity, this time for himself, after he danced through the defence, played a one-two that found him space but scuffed his shot and it was an easy take low down for Vukovic.

Allsopp was taken off with bruised ribs with two minutes to go and the Mariners sacrificed Kwasnik as McKinna decided to settle for the draw.

Victory wasn’t finished yet though and it took a professional foul from Andre Gumprecht - tugging on the shirt of Broxham - to stop him going past him into the box, earning the Mariner a yellow.

The freekick caused frantic scenes in the box but the Mariners eventually got it clear only for it to come back into the box once more with Thompson waiting but Vidmar cleared just in time.

Seconds later though Vidmar was sent off for a desperate last man mid-air lunge on Thompson as Archie closed in on goal.

The resulting freekick was almost the last touch of the game and Brebner and Broxham lined it up. Brebner tapped it to Broxham who let fly and Piorkowski just glanced a header onto it but it breezed over the bar.

Victory continued to press the Mariners right up to the final whistle but there was to be no breakthrough for either side in a truly entertaining match up.

FourFourTwo Says:
Nil-nil draws don’t get much better than this. Both sides showed their pedigree with a stunning match that created plenty of chances at both ends. But instead of wild shots like other teams in the A-League, it was down to some goal-keeping brilliance that kept both sides square. Either could have walked away winners – and neither side could have complained. This was the showpiece match of the round and it lived up to its billing, even without a goal on the scoreboard.