After a dour first half in front of the 7559 fans at AAMI Park, City took the lead in the 55th minute when a Josh Brilliante long-range effort bounced off the post, into the back of an otherwise excellent Jamie Young and into the net.

Having until then taken a relentlessly conservative approach to the game – it taking until the 72nd minute for them to register their first shot on target – the sudden hole in which Roar found themselves in sprung them to life.

But in the end, their attempt proved too little, too late as the hosts did enough to hold out for the three points.

“We try to increase and develop a lot of things to score,” City Head Coach Erick Mombaerts said post-game.

“The first way, the first idea is to play and score in positions of attack. But we also try to score in counter and also offensive set-pieces.

“We work on them all. Sometimes in this game, we can make the difference on set pieces.”

Fowler said post-game: “Football is football,

“You can never be frustrated about the other team’s tactics, they’ll have a game plan and try to work out the opposition, as we do.

“I think [his own frustration was] more frustration about the referees and the fourth official. I think the consistency that they show is not good enough.

“The amount of people that come up to me and they query the A-League and a lot of them just say I think the standards of the referees need to be better A lot of people say that to me.

“Some of the decisions tonight were quite poor. The free-kick for the goal, our player won the ball. There was a challenge just a minute before half time, our player gets his shirt pulled [by Luna] and there should have been a yellow card. Second half the same player [Luna] pulls a player back and gets a yellow card.

“So, there’s been no consistency tonight and I think it’s been a general consensus of referees throughout the season.”

Nonetheless, there was a change in the air at AAMI Park, with  Roar appearing dangerous when forced to come out of their shells and chase the game after going down.

It was a welcome change, with the men in orange pressing high, running hard and showing desperation that had been lacking until then.

Further chances followed, with an air of nervousness clearly descending upon the home fans, but in the end, the fast-finishing Roar couldn’t convert.

“I want to congratulate Rostyn [Griffiths],” Mombaerts said.

“He did very well he was maybe one of our best players today.”

Has it started yet?

If there was one word to describe the opening half, it would be dour: neither side appeared inclined to display any sort of genuine risk as they attempted to move the ball from defence to attack.

City monopolised the early possession, built slowly and attempted to press high and regain possession when they lost the ball, whereas a well-structured Roar side was content to sit back and soak up pressure in anticipation of their foes press eventually cracking and allowing opportunities in transition.

Admittedly, City was able to create some chances – Young being forced into a number of key saves to deny the hosts what would have been a deserved lead – but they were largely delivered off dead balls and not as a result of slicing and dicing their way through the Orange backline.  

It took until the 41st minute of play for the first shot on goal from open play by either side to be delivered via Berenguer’s header.

Brisbane, in contrast, failed to register a shot on target in the opening half – waiting until they went a goal down to spring to life and attempt their first shot on goal in the 72nd.

Important win

Coming into the contest off a bye weekend, the three points earned by Mombaerts’ men were important.

Not only do they enable City to leap back into outright possession of second place on the A-League table following Perth Glory’s surprise 2-1 loss to Newcastle Jets, but they also serve to arrest a potential rot that could have set in after their loss to Wellington Phoenix in round 19.

“It was important to win.,” Mombaerts said.

“It was a tough game. We did well in the first half. Very well.

“We created some good chances and we conceded no chances. In the second half, maybe as we score maybe our high press wasn’t enough effective and we let Brisbane be dangerous.”

City will next week head across the Nullarbor to take on Glory at nib Stadium, with a chance to move six-clear in the race for a crucial second place finish.

Top Six Tightness

Further down the ladder, Round 21 without a doubt produced its fair share of chaos and, as the dust begins to clear, it reveals a race for the top-six that is as tight as ever.

Defeats for Adelaide United and Roar mean they are unable to pull away from a trailing pack or potentially close the gap between themselves and fourth-placed Wellington Phoenix, who had a bye week.

Western Sydney Wanderers and Western United’s wins over Sydney FC and Central Coast Mariners respectively bring both to within two points of the finals places – Wanderers holding a game in hand over their nearby rivals and set to play Roar next week.

They may still rest on the edge of the knife, but Victory’s finals hopes remain alive as well after their dramatic 2-1 win over Adelaide on Saturday night moved them to within six points of sixth-placed Roar.

Of course, Sydney FC may do something about those nascent play-off hopes when they make the trip to Marvel Stadium for the season’s final Big Blue next week.

Finally, if one was being particularly fanciful, one could even claim that the Jets hopes of a supremely unlikely run to the finals powered by new coach Carl Robinson, Joe Ledley and Wes Hoolahan remains a very, very faint possibility.