The youngster curled a wonderful 10th minute shot past visiting keeper Michael Theoklitos to send the home fans into raptures and give the coach every reason to celebrate a year in charge at Suncorp.

Kruse later thumped the post while Danny Allsopp was guilty of squandering a great chance to plunder a late leveller – one of several opportunities to go begging.

On a night that saw the Hyundai A-League welcome its three millionth paying customer, it was also a memorable night for the Brisbane boys as they also recorded successive home wins for the first time in the club’s history.

Speaking after the game, Roar midfielder Stuart McLaren said: “The quality was there at the start, we really worked hard and a great goal from Robbie. We had to dig deep and it’s great character from the boys. It’s good for our fans. They’ve been waiting a long, long time for two home wins in a row.”

Frank Farina was forced into two changes as Roar looked to record three wins on the trot for the first time. With Josh McCloughan suspended and Michael Zullo on Olyroo duty Andrew Packer came in at left-back with Marcinho slotting into the left side of a central midfield trio.

Ernie Merrick also reshuffled his pack with Steve Pantelidis and Roddy Vargas returning from suspension but Kevin Muscat missing out due to a ban. Adrian Caceres was handed a rare start on the right side of midfield.

Liam Reddy came to his side’s rescue in the fifth minute after a dreadful back pass from Massimo Murdocca. Archie Thompson pounced but the Queensland keeper spread himself superbly to block and spare his teammate’s blushes.

At the other end Marcinho’s lofted free-kick was just a whisker too high for the head of Sash Ognenovski.

The home side took the lead on 10 minutes with one of their young guns the hero once again. Matty McKay slotted a terrific pass through to Robbie Kruse, the 19-year-old cut inside and curled a wonderful right-footed shot past Michael Theoklitos into the bottom right hand corner of the net.

Suitably encouraged, Roar pushed forward again and Theoklitos had to get down smartly to push away a fierce strike from Marcinho.

Craig Moore saw a diving header saved by the visiting keeper on 15 and it was the Melbourne keeper to the rescue again moments later. The Victory offside trap failed and Theoklitos had to throw himself to his left to block a Marcinho shot at the expense of a corner, one of three set pieces in quick succession for the home team.

As the Victory threatened to make a rare break for the opposing half Hyuk-Su Seo was in just the right place to halt Thompson’s charge down the left wing, this moments after the player was hurt in a challenge with Carlos Hernandez.
A clearly confident Reinaldo then produced an air shot under pressure from Steven Pace before the Victory saw another cross into the Queensland area headed clear by the ever dependable Seo.

As the clock approached the 25 minute mark Melbourne finally began to get a foothold in the game without offering any real threat to Reddy’s goal.

Roar broke quickly on 26 through Kruse, he knocked the ball to his right and McKay sent a low shot thundering just past the left post.

There was a blow for the home team on 32 minutes with skipper Craig Moore hobbling off with a twisted ankle, Ben Griffin the man to enter the fray. Moore appeared to hurt himself in an innocuous tangle on the byline with Thompson.

Kruse then hit the floor after a challenge from Daniel Vasilevski but to Farina’s relief bounced up quickly.

Melbourne finally forced a corner on 36 and although Vargas got up well to meet Matthew Kemp’s delivery his header lacked the direction to go with the power. All of a sudden the visitors began to look far more menacing and Caceres was guilty of blazing a good chance over the top having been teed up by Danny Allsopp.

A foul on Kruse gave the Roar another opportunity to shoot for goal and although Marcinho’s long distance effort was on target it lacked the power to trouble the visiting keeper.

Kruse was thwarted again before Ognenovski tried to catch out Theoklitos with a long range effort, having spotted the Victory custodian off his line.

Thompson should have levelled in first half stoppage time but Thompson couldn’t find the direction to force a close range effort past Reddy. The whistle blew with Roar on course to close the gap on leaders Central Coast.

Merrick decided a change was necessary to get back into the match with Leandro Love replacing Pace for the start of the second half. Packer was swiftly in the book for a foul on the Victory substitute while Allsopp and Ognenovski exchanged words as they waited for the resulting free-kick. When the ball did eventually get delivered into the area Reddy punched clear.

Vasilevski was then cautioned for a foul on Marcinho with Kemp fortunate to escape the same fate after chopping down Kruse.

Stuart McLaren saw yellow for a poor challenge on Love as the cautions began to pile up in an increasingly scrappy affair.

Griffin did just enough to thwart Vargas at the near post following a corner as Queensland struggled to recapture their earlier dominance. Melbourne should have levelled on 59 minutes with Allsopp missing an absolute sitter. Thompson whipped over a wonderful cross from the right but the Socceroo’s strike partner could not apply the finish, albeit under pressure from Reddy.

Roar fought back to earn another set piece but Marcinhio’s delivery in such situations was consistently poor allowing Melbourne to clear danger all too easily.

Kruse was desperately unlucky not to make it 2-0 on 65 minutes. Victory failed to clear McKay’s inswinging free-kick from the right and the Roar youngster side-footed a low strike against the base of the right post with Reddy well beaten.

Evan Berger replaced Kemp on 70 minutes with Hernandez forcing a free-kick on the edge of the Roar box two minutes later. El Zorro himself took the kick but it was easily gathered by Reddy between the sticks.

Farina made his second change with Under 20 international Tahj Minniecon replacing Marcinho on 74. Kruse got his head to McKay’s free-kick from the left but glanced his header wide of the right post. Roar then conceded another cheap set piece 20 metres from their own goal on 77 minutes and Hernandez saw his strike thud against the left post with Reddy stranded.

Melbourne looked to have plenty of gas in the tank as the match moved into the final 10 minutes with the Roar having been unable to find a second, killer goal to settle the nerves of a 17,000 plus crowd.

Roar were guilty of conceding numerous cheap free-kicks in dangerous areas, simply inviting trouble on their own goal.

Farina’s final switch of the night saw Simon Lynch brought on to replace Kruse with the youngster leaving to a standing ovation.

Allsopp missed another glorious chance two minutes from time, heading over from Caceres’ cross, albeit that an offside flag would have thwarted a ‘goal’ anyway.

Groans greeted the news that four additional minutes would be played. Reinaldo’s shot deflected wide for a corner to eat up valuable seconds as the home fans willed their team home. Roar held on and move to within a point of the Mariners, at least until Sunday.

As for Melbourne, disappointed skipper for the night Grant Brebner said: “We took 20 minutes to get started and you can’t do that. We need to start getting some wins. We’re in a position we don’t want to be in and it’s going to be hard work that gets us out of it. As long as we finish in that top four, that’s all that matters.”

FourFourTwo says...
Another cracking goal from Robbie Kruse was enough to see Frank Farina's men home for a historic third straight win. The youngster was unlucky not to add a second but the Brisbane boys almost paid the price for failing to kill off Melbourne. Fortunately for them, Danny Allsopp's scoring touch has deserted him. Roar are looking more and more like top four finishers but Melbourne still appears to be misfiring.