Anthony Magnacca had to be omitted from the Cosmos lineup a few hours before kick-off, because his transfer failed to come through.
There was another indication of things to come when the national anthem had to be abandoned due to microphone failure.
It seemed unsurprising when Thorpe scored for the Sharks in the third minute after a messy scramble in front of goal.
Six minutes in, Lindsay Wilson (Cosmos) left the field with a dislocated shoulder after colliding with a team-mate when neither called for a high ball.
Cosmos started to get into the game with some good forward moves, getting a lot of the ball but often conceding it with inaccurate passes.
Canberra was playing a pretty defensive formation with Buljan and Musitano up front, and their forward moves were based mainly on long passes.
After 33 minutes Cosmos got a free kick near the box after a foul on Arranz. Harry James got in a good header and the score was 1-1.
After 38 minutes Gibson received a good pass following a corner, and drilled a low volley to score for the Sharks. He was helped by a poor miss by Knezevic. So it was 1-2 at half-time.
Cosmos received a number of yellow cards in a scrappy second half: Marcina, Kelly and Arranz.
For the Sharks, Milosevic was helped off with a leg injury, and Popovich received a yellow (dissent?).
Zelic was having a poor game, his passes seeming to find an opponent as often as a team-mate. Cosmos players frequently found themselves surrounded in possession by three or four of their opponents.
Both sides had opportunities to score, Cosmos having a bit more of the ball but were too tentative in their finishing. Burt just missed with a header for Canberra in the 74th minute.
Right on full time Canberra conceded a pathetic goal. After appealing for off-side, the Cosmos players just stood there and watched the Sharks score (too disgusted to get the goal scorer).
The crowd was not announced but it looked about 2500. Atmosphere there was not.
It's going to be another long year.