In an open and entertaining contest, despite the very warm and humid conditions at Parramatta Stadium tonight, derby host Parramatta Power edged out Marconi Stallions by the one goal, that of substitute Luke Roodenburg in the 74th minute.
Both sides came into the match with the points needed to get solidly into the top 6 in mind.
In the case of Power, they have lost two games in a row plus had captain Alex Tobin out injured. For Marconi this was a chance to shine after losing to Spirit at home despite dominating the game.
A fairly quiet first half, in which Marconi probably had the edge with their brand of the passing game, started with John Buonavoglia slipping the ball forward to Ahmad Elrich but his shot was easily taken by Michael Turnbull in the Marconi goal.
Turnbull was again called into action a few minutes later but he failed to hold a high cross but it fell harmlessly out of Power's reach.
Marconi coach Lee Sterrey thought he had a goal when John Maisano, who is having a fine season, sent Kevo Gulesserian on his way but the young striker had the ball taken off his feet by Les Pogliacomi.
Marconi continued to create great moves with midfield passing and an early ball to the strikers but they couldn't get shots on target.
Parramatta were also creating moves, however their usual flank play was severely constrained, and a good chance only fell to John Buonavoglia in the 21st minute. Lying on the ground in the area he managed to get in 3 attempts to shoot.
Marconi's Maisano had a chance in the 33rd minute when tried lobbing Pogliacomi but just cleared the cross bar.
Again in the 42nd minute Maisano nutmegged Eagleton but his shot was week.
At the break it was obvious that Marconi had kept Power's wide men well constrained and if they could continue the midfield dominance the goal would come.
Marconi started strongly after the break too as evidenced when Michael Beauchamp made a great run on the right, shot but saw it bounce harmlessly off Lubo Lapsansky.
Parramatta had their own ideas however with Langdon at last getting a cross into the box from the left but Buonavoglia was unable to connect, and a little later an Elrich cross from the right almost reached an unmarked Langdon.
It looked like it could run out 0-0 so the coaches making substitutes. The most inspired turned out to be the insertion of the hard running Luke Roodenburg into the Power attack. Within a few minutes of coming on, he got his head to a ball that came from a curling cross by Lapsansky and his downward header had too much power for Turnbull to hold.
Marconi had to push up rather than play on the break but substitute twice within minutes failed to get in a shot that would test Pogliacomi, and Christian Care made a total air swing right in front of goal.
Parramatta's Buonavoglia pushed the ball out to Elrich who made a run on the right and got in a cross to 'the Jockey' following up but Turnbull made a save and the shot on the rebound was wide.
The last 10 minutes saw the game open up even more, and as Lee Sterrey said afterwards "more chances were created and more mistakes were made".
Care hit over from a cross from the left, Eagleton shot wide, experienced Power signing Zlatko Arambasic headed to Turnbull, Roodenburg forced another save by Turnbull, and Tome shot just over the crossbar from 20m.
The win means that Power move past the Stallions and into sixth spot on the NSL table with 11 points, whilst Marconi remain on eight points.
Lee Sterrey was upset that the early dominance wasn't tuned into gaols and that this was an ongoing problem. David Mitchell was pleased of course for the points but with the trip to Perth next weekend he wasn't getting carried away.
Parramatta was best served by Pogliacomi, Orlic, O'Sullivan, Lapsansky, and Barrett, and Roodenburg's substitute contribution.
Marconi can thank Maisano, Longo, Tome, and Last.