WESTERN UNITED VS WESTERN SYDNEY WANDERERS

We'll start things off with the Battle for the West, which seemed like it was going to be a cracker after the Wanderers' hot start to the season but fizzled dramatically over the past few weeks.

Despite the fact that a win would have kept them right in contention, Western United's away contingent wasn't exactly fussed.

In fact, even Fox Sports' seemed a little bored (top right corner).

But those who did turn up, did it in style.

There were another two interesting talking points to come out of the contest, however. One, we now have an A-League referee with his own signature boots:

Two, not a single sub despite the increased bench sizes? Doesn't take a genius to speculate that all is not quite dandy in Wanderland at the moment.

WELLINGTON PHOENIX VS SYDNEY FC

Unlike the Wanderers' draw, one that we may not have picked as a star-studded affair at the beginning of the season turned out to be one of the picks of the round.

Still, while their pundits were clearly enjoying themselves, Fox Sports itself perhaps weren't endearing themselves to the raucous fans.

With the Fox bashing out of the way, people were enamoured with Ufuk Talay's new Nix side. Even Corica says they're a top six certainty and there certainly doesn't seem to be much nostalgia left for Mark Rudan.

All fans seemed to be getting in the mood, one way or another. Some were getting hammered before the match, others preparing in their own way.

But for all the missing men in Sydney and the expected similarities between Talay and Corica's tactics, there was one part of the night that was purely Wellington's to enjoy.

MELBOURNE DERBY

Despite Melbourne Victory's terrible form this season, there was a palpable excitement heading into their match against Melbourne City. AAMI Park, in the sun, a few flares. You know the drill.

Those who waited got a better deal and those who actually turned up, at least on the Victory side, got their just desserts.

This one sort of speaks for itself.

The City fans certainly weren't happy, but we dare say even their club's media were pretty embarassed themselves.

Props to Victory's response though, if you're going to have corporatised banter between A-League media teams, at least do it sarcastically.

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PERTH GLORY VS NEWCASTLE JETS

What started as a 'hard sell' for Perth fans quickly turned into a far harder buy for Newcastle Jets.

It's pretty hard to watch an A-League match or scroll through a social media feed without hearing about VAR and despite the blowout scoreline, this one was clearly no different. You know when you're getting angry about a disallowed seventh goal that the technology really isn't popular.

Ultimately, it was another cracking day for Perth fans, past, present and seemingly for all time, no matter what. Who can blame Kenny for keeping up appearances when he's got this bloke to enjoy.

The puns were coming quick and fast...we'll spare you all the '6-2 to be a Jets fan' but we couldn't resist showing you this one...

Although, if we've learned anything over the years, Jets supporters are a resilient lot.

CENTRAL COAST MARINERS VS ADELAIDE UNITED

While Jets fans were supposedly still recovering from a hiding, that didn't stop them turning up for what they hoped was going to be a healthy dose of schadenfreude.

Turns out, it was just a double dose of pain.

Adelaide did get a reprieve on the stroke of the second half through a Ben Halloran worldie. They may have even enjoyed the Mariners at times...

But when even Kye Rowles is scoring goals against you, well, it's just probably not your day.