Three games out of the last four have been goalless between the two sides and the drought goes on for these state rivals.

Queensland had the better of the first half but Sydney came far more into the game after the break.

The sky blues would have been heading north with an advantage had it not been for Roar goalkeeper Griffin McMaster. He twice denied the wasteful Alex Brosque, with the Sydney man also blazing over with another good opportunity.

The visitors, superbly marshalled by skipper Craig Moore enjoyed more efforts on goal than their hosts but couldn’t find the finish that mattered.

It leaves the tie finally balanced. Roar have home advantage but Sydney remain unbeaten away from home all season.

Home captain Popovic said: “It’s okay (the result). If you’re going to draw at home a 0-0 is okay. To go through they still have to beat us and 1-1 would be enough for us. We created chances and I’m sure we’ll get some more chances up there. We go there full of confidence and we’re definitely in this tie.”

Roar captain Moore said: “It’s a better result for us than for them. I thought it was a good game. Our goalkeeper Griffin McMaster was outstanding.”

Sydney FC’s 100th competitive outing saw John Kosmina looking to get the better of friend and former Socceroos colleague Frank Farina. The duo had both indulged in a spot of mind games during the build up to this Origin clash but the time for talking was finally over.

Brendan Renaud replaced Ruben Zadkovich for the home side, Kosmina favouring a left-footed player to operate on the left side of the pitch in a 3-5-2 formation.

Their visitors, no doubt still smarting from their nightmare in Adelaide last week, had to do without midfielder Danny Tiatto. The experienced campaigner was serving the first of a two-match ban dished out following his red card at Hindmarsh.

Frank Farina was able to welcome back the versatile Hyuk-Su Seo after a calf injury although he had to make do with a place on the bench, Marcinho handed a starting slot in midfield as the visitors began with a 4-3-3 approach. There was still no Liam Reddy between the sticks due to injury, Griffin McMaster continuing custodian duties.

Sydney boasted the greater finals experience with Roar making their bow at this stage and the home side also went into the match knowing their Queensland visitors had never won in Sydney. Still, Farina said that statistic had to end some time.

The Roar made a bright start to proceedings forcing an early but fruitless corner and Reinaldo was left with egg on his face after three minutes, producing an ‘air’ shot as the ball was nodded into his path just inside the box.

Marcinho almost caught out Clint Bolton two minutes later as he whipped in a low free-kick following a foul on Robbie Kruse. Thankfully for Sydney the keeper got down smartly to keep out the Brazilian’s strike.

Mark Milligan earned the first yellow card of the night on seven minutes, penalised for a challenge on ex Sydney man Andrew Packer inside the Roar area.

Michael Zullo climbed well to meet a ball from the right on nine but could only direct his header wide of the left post under pressure from Iain Fyfe.

Juninho burst into life on 14, surging past a couple of Roar challenges with ease before forcing a corner via the body of Sasa Ognenovski – the Sydney man claiming his opponent had used a hand in the process. Referee Mark Shield was not interesting in awarding a penalty though.

Matty McKay saw his powerful drive blocked by Robbie Middleby on the edge of the area on 20 minutes, Reinaldo having teed up the chance.

Ognenovski joined Milligan in the book on 22 for a push on Middleby as he charged down the right flank.

There was a huge let off for Sydney seconds later as Reinaldo burst clear down the left but his low cross somehow evaded Kruse who would surely have scored with a better delivery.

The Roar continued to look the brighter side and as Reinaldo raced to the right byline, the ball was teed up for Marcinho. Sadly for the visitors he took far, far too long to pull the trigger and his first touch was woeful.

Middleby was replaced by Zadkovich on 26 due to the former picking up a hamstring problem while Zullo hit the deck after a collision with Fyfe.

Zullo threatened to surge clear on 35 but was well tracked by Ufuk Talay on the edge of the area while McMaster had to react smartly to clear a ball back from Ognenovski.

Plenty of industry, huff and puff but as the clocked ticked towards the interval, little in the way of really clear cut opportunities in an increasingly tight contest.

Packer put a poor cross straight into Bolton’s arms after a promising Roar move on 41 as both sides continued to lack the cutting edge in the final third.

Renaud was booked for a foul on Kruse on 43 and Bolton got down quickly to hold on to Ognenovski’s low drive from the set piece.

That was that with referee Shield blowing for half-time after just a minute of stoppages.

Brosque wasted a glorious opportunity five minutes into the second half, taking advantage of a slip but blazing high and wide with just McMaster to beat.

Talay was booked for halting Talay’s charge on 56 but Sydney cleared Marcinho’s free-kick with ease.

Brosque burst clear on 57 but again he couldn’t beat McMaster, the keeper making a fine block to deny the Sydney striker – a second wasted chance for the Sydney man.

Queensland had a scary moment with 20 minutes remaining as a McMaster punch threatened to drop into his own net until McCloughan hacked clear.

The inconsistent Zullo then made way for Tahj Minniecon on 71 with the youngster getting in a shot on goal within seconds of entering the fray.

The Cove had been roaring for Kosmina to bring on Patrick as Popovic made an important block to cut out Minniecon’s low cross from the right. The home fans got their wish as the Brazilian came on to replace Corica with 16 minutes remaining.

McCloughan added to the mounting card tally as he was penalised for a poor tackle on Juninho while Marcinho wasn’t too far away from getting on the end of a through ball on 76.

Marcinho rifled over the top from 22 metres as the Roar continued to dominate the shots on goal contest – albeit without having found the net.

Reinaldo threw himself at Packer’s cross with Milligan doing just enough to put him off as Kruse made way for Mitch Nichols.

Juninho created another opportunity for Brosque on 82 but again the Sydney forward couldn’t get the better of McMaster, albeit he appeared to have been impeded at the crucial moment by Ognenovski.

With three minutes remaining Milligan flashed a ball across the face of goal but Patrick couldn’t stretch to turn the ball past McMaster.

McMaster then denied Brendon Santalab although the offside flag had long since gone up.

Roar skipper Moore then made a magnificent challenge to thwart Santalab as the home side pushed for a last-gasp winner.

It wasn’t to be for the home side though with the semi-final now to be decided on Queensland soil at Suncorp in a fortnight.