Brandon O'Neill's stunning opener was soon cancelled out by Kosta Barbarouses' nifty lofted equaliser but thanks to a moment of Milos Ninkovic excellence it all finished up in the Sky Blue, 2-1 to Sydney FC over Melbourne Victory.

BEST

COACHES AWARDS FOR EVERYONE

 

Horrible pitches aside - because I'll mention them in just about every section from here on in - both sides gave it a good go! They tried and had fun and that's all that matters. 

There was no hit-and-hope; 'Try to land it on Ola Toivonen's head and please don't let Georg Niedermeier pick up another knock.' Melbourne were back to their dominating best after selling their stylistic soul to beat Perth Glory, while Sydney, for their part, are looking more Victory-esque every week.

While not vintage Big Blue beautiful for obvious reasons, both sides attempted to make it a crowded, tight-passing affair. Kudos to the gaffers.

BRANDON O'BELTER 

 

Eight goals in his A-League career and there are at least four stunners in there. That's a 50% belter rate. No wonder the Championship is supposedly beckoning...

It's not even his best belter of the season, if anyone remembers that uber-powerful cracker against the Central Coast Mariners that would have exploded a giant sauce bottle had it been off-target.

O'Neill's grandstand opener in front of the Member's Pavilion was hit with a venom that would have made the Don himself proud. Swallow that with your pies and pints of 4 Pines. Who even drinks that?

NINKOVIC BIDES HIS TIME

 

Two goals this season and they've both been pearlers. When the Serbian steps up and struts his stuff as he's done time and again this season, goals or no, he's still right alongside Diego Castro as the best to watch in the league. 

THE COVE KEEPS FAITH

He's only played a handful of matches, many as a sub, while carrying knocks most of the time anyway. In those games he's also failed to deliver fairly often, although to be fair, when he has he's defied the laws of physics once or twice...

Yet despite Siem de Jong's frustrating small impact on the Harbour City this season, the Cove has still invented a timeless chant for the ages. Something to really inspire him to good health.

(To the tune of Boney M's 'Daddy Cool') 'Siem, Siem de Jong. Siem, Siem de Jong. Siem, Siem de Jong. Siem, Siem de Jong. Siem, Siem de Jong. Siem, Siem de Jong...alright, we'll stop.

WORST

GRANT'S KRYPTONITE

Probably the worst Rhyan Grant performance this season. Who knew the mullet's one weakness was returning to its birthplace, the Sydney Cricket Ground. 

Poor Grant was just all over the place, hitting dismally tepid crosses one moment and then blasting passes out for throw-ins the next. Still gets a shout-out for his quip about bowling wrong-uns before the match though...

$730 MILLION WELL SPENT

​

Good to know we can spend $730 million on knocking down and re-building a perfectly good stadium but can't pay a groundsman $30 an hour to maintain a pitch. 

Obviously it's not that simplistic and I (along with a few with key tv broadcasters) am just a sucker for packed stadiums, but remember the Big Blue at Kogorah? Tifos, chants, packed to the rafters. Seagulls and chip packets blowing across the pitch. 

Sydney's fans always manage to generate a lot of noise anyway, so no criticisms there. It's just already a little tiring watching football in the wrong stadiums, and now we've got two years of the SCG and Kardinia Park to look forward to.

Just once I'd like to see the Aussies have to play a test match against Pakistan at AAMI Park...

ANTONIS' NOT-SO-PHANTOM INJURY

 

While it's unfair to rashly blame injuries on pitch conditions or fixture scheduling, seeing Terry Antonis - one of Australia's brightest midfielders and a poster-boy of everything good about the Big Blue - go down in tears after appearing to mistread on the uneven pitch is a little sickening. Heart in mouth stuff.

It happened to Antonis and could have easily occurred to Neidermeier and Keisuke Honda as well, all of which had awkward falls at one point or another. 

It's too early to tell how bad it is, but surely at some point the A-League is going to have to start prioritising player safety over fitting an extra 5,000 into every big fixture. The atmosphere suffers, the stadium and television viewing suffers, but most of all, the players suffer.