It should have been for Sydney's dominant display in the top of the table clash against Melbourne Victory, Matt Simon's breakneck goal, and Australia's brave defence against a marauding Dutch side (even if our attack was impotent).

Instead though, Frank Farina's suspension by Brisbane Roar after he was charged with drink-driving for a second time and Gold Coast United owner Clive Palmer's dramatic collapse will monopolise much of the newspaper column inches.

Arguably the greatest rivalry in the competition, games between Melbourne Victory and Sydney FC deserve the fanfare and publicity of any great derby. With both teams heavyweights in their own right, each has made claims for the Championship this season, though the ledger, so far, stands a tad lop-sided.

Melbourne, to date, have won five trophies to Sydney's one - their maiden Championship victory in the inaugural season. The prospect of a Melbourne-Sydney match to kickstart the round was what football fans across the country had been waiting for all season.

Sky Blues strikers Alex Brosque and Mark Bridge have come under scrutiny so far this season for their inability to take advantage of scoring opportunities; and this, it seems, was duly noted.

The pair cut a swathe through Victory's defence and in the short space of 10 minutes, blasted the visitors to an insurmountable three-goal lead.

There was only ever going to be one result from that point on.

In front of a season-record crowd of 30,668 Sydney put in one of their finest displays in recent memory with some crisp interplay and disciplined defence to cement themselves at the top of the competition table.

Elsewhere Matt Simon scored the second fastest A-League goal - after just 14 seconds in his side's tussle with North Queensland Fury - and Tando Velaphi was able to keep a rare clean sheet to help his side defeat a steely Adelaide United outfit.

Melbourne and Sydney met on Friday night as part of the inaugural U-NITE clash. The cause has been set up to recognise the cultural diversity in Melbourne and promote the message of unity by showcasing the ethnicity and multicultural heritage of Melbourne Victory players and fans.

And it was one of Victory's Brazilians who exploded out of the gates, with Ney Fabiano testing Sydney custodian Clint Bolton twice within the first 10 mins.

From here, however, things went horribly wrong for the home team.

Sydney set their stall early and played some engrossing football across the park. Their efforts were rewarded in the 15th minute when Simon Colosimo swung a tantalising ball in for Alex Brosque who rose easily above Leigh Broxham and Matthew Kemp to loop the ball over keeper Glen Moss.

One minute later Mark Bridge doubled the scoreline after he wrong-footed Rodrigo Vargas, before slotting the ball home.

When Shannon Cole made a surging run down the right to tee up Bridge's second for the game, another three minutes later, the result was a forgone conclusion.

Melbourne emptied their bench in an attempt to retrieve something from the game, and Archie Thompson came close on numerous occasions, but neither he, nor substitute Evan Berger were able to convert their shooting opportunities.

The second game in Friday night's double header saw Adelaide travel west across the Nullarbor to take on a buoyant Perth Glory.

The Reds appeared to start the better, with Lloyd Owusu making some timely forward runs to trouble the Glory defence.

But it was Perth keeper Tando Velaphi who was the hero for the home side, as he repelled a sharpshooting Reds outfit led by Owusu and Travis Dodd, and pulled off a number of fantastic saves throughout the game.

Up the other end of the park, Mile Sterjovski, perhaps irked by his exclusion from the Socceroos squad, looked to prove that he is still an attacking threat and the marquee man, along with Dutchman Victor Sikora, proved ominous.

The game saw another appearance by Glory fan favourite Eugene Dadi, and it was the introduction of the Ivorian off the bench which proved to be the decisive move for Glory.

With little more than 10 minutes to play, the dread-locked dynamo received the ball in the penalty area and calmly slotted it back to an onrushing Sikora who blasted the ball into the back of the net.

The goal, and the win, sends Perth to 17 points and a joint share in second spot.

Desperately needing a win to stay in touch with the peloton, Central Coast Mariners were hoping a visit by bottom-placed North Queensland Fury would gift them the points they needed.

Their hopes were raised further when Matt Simon struck after just 14 seconds - the second fastest goal in A-League history.

The game developed into something of a war of attrition, with both sides having more than enough possession, but perhaps lacked a creative ball-player.

The Mariners had a goal disallowed for offside in the 50^th, and Simon almost turned provider in the 73^rd minute when he made an inspired run, only to see Nigel Boogaard send the resulting cross wide of the mark.

Fury had their fair share of chances too, and it was Daniel McBreen who levelled for the visitors in the 75^th minute to set up a barnstorming conclusion to the competition. Both teams pushed forward, but poor finishing and scrambling defensive work ensured the points were shared.

The round was concluded on a gloomy day in Brisbane, where Gold Coast United were looking to end their winless ways. The surfsiders would have had fond memories of Suncorp, having won there in their first ever A-League match.

The homeside were without a plethora of players, including Socceroo Craig Moore, Danny Tiatto, Charlie Miller, Henrique, Michael Zullo, Massimo Murdocca and David Dodd, but  had more than enough chances to get one back on their rivals.

Their best chance early fell to Bob Malcolm in the 16^th minute, but the big defender was unable to place his short from close range.

It was the visitors, though, who took the lead on the half-hour mark when Joel Porter netted courtesy of a misdirected clearing header from Bob Malcolm which fell fortuitously for an unmarked the unmarked United striker at back post.

Sergio van Dijk was busy for Roar, and almost levelled in the dying stages of first half but saw his header fly over the crossbar under heavy pressure from the Roar defence.

Both sides pressed forward in the second half, though the greasy surface made things uncomfortable for everyone on the field and it stayed 1-0 in the end.

Hyundai A-League 2009/10 League Table

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

Hyundai A-League 2009/10 - Leading Goal-Scorers After Round 10

9 - Shane SMELTZ

4 - Mark BRIDGE, Robbie FOWLER, Carlos HERNANDEZ, Branko JELIC, Archie THOMPSON, Sergio VAN DIJK

3 - John ALOISI, HENRIQUE, Lucas PANTELIS, REINALDO, Victor SIKORA, Matt SIMON, Mile STERJOVSKI

2 - Leo BERTOS, CASSIO, Steve CORICA, Jason CULINA, Chris GREENACRE, Jason HOFFMAN, Paul IFILL, Daniel MCBREEN, Adriano PELLEGRINO, Joel PORTER, Matt SIMON, Jin-Hyung SONG, Wayne SRHOJ

1 - Danny ALLSOPP, Nigel BOOGAARD, Grant BREBNER, Alex BROSQUE, Tim BROWN, Dyron DAAL, Kofi DANNING, Travis DODD, Ney FABIANO, Steven FITZSIMMONS, Iain FYFE, Brendan GAN, Royston GRIFFITHS, Chris GROSSMAN, Labinot HALITI, John HUTCHINSON, Matthew LECKIE, Adrian LEIJER, Michael MCGLINCHEY, Charlie MILLER, Tahj MINNIECON, MILSON, Craig MOORE, Kevin MUSCAT, Jason NAIDOVSKI, Mitch NICHOLS, Lloyd OWUSU, Sean ROONEY, Ben SIGMUND, John TAMBOURAS, Matt THOMPSON, Danny TIATTO, Nicky TRAVIS, Nick WARD, Alex WILKINSON