Adelaide may be justifiably aggrieved not to be taking at least a point home tonight.
Sydney had more flourish and flair, but Adelaide's dauntless defence frustrated the home side and contributed to an entertaining if somewhat spiteful game.
Sydney clearly relished their first home win ΔΆ and not letting Adelaide get away at the top of the table. Adelaide coach John Kosmina, however, thought his side clearly deserved to still be carrying the "undefeated" monkey on its back.
Blue sky. Cool breeze. An hour before the game the crowd was sparse, indicative of the eventual 18,000 or so that would disappoint those who hoped 30,000 would want to see the "top-of-the table clash".
Twenty-something Adelaide fans gathered with their banner behind one goal, while the Cove, at the other end, filled quickly. Quite a number of Sydney fans wore Sydney caps which, in addition to the many hundreds of Sydney scarfs and shirts on show, made it clear how many football fans there have been in the city waiting for a team to support with some fanaticism.
By kick-off the Cove was full but for the first two rows; and the guy next to me observed that the Adelaide fans' flag took up more seats than the fans themselves. Good on them for them for coming; shame the ticketing made them appear so lonely.
From the start both sides were tackling hard. Before the end an element of spite had mixed into the contact. Throughout, referee Mark Shield's whistle broke the fluidity of ¬ principally Sydney's ¬ play.
Sydney enjoyed more possession but failed to deliver in the final third. Adelaide's backline was outstanding. This was the best I'd seen Sydney play. But Adelaide had better chances, particularly in the first half.
David Carney, a standout for Sydney, had an early free kick cleared out of the Adelaide penalty area.
For Adelaide, Qu Shengqing kept Jacob Timpano on the alert.
Saso Petrovski was fouled by Kristian Rees while on one run, and then missed with a diving header running from an offside position.
Carl Veart, who shone throughout, in the sixth minute chested a cross back from Sydney's six yard box for Fernando Rech to slog high and wide.
Ufuk Talay, conceding a throw in, got the better of Mathew Kemp attacking down Adelaide's right. But Clint Bolton couldn't hold the long throw and had to save at the feet of Travis Dodd.
A Steve Corica-David Zdrilic-Corica-Petrovski combination looked promising but the ball didn't fall again to Zdrilic's advantage.
Talay ran into a dead end on the right but Sydney won another free kick for a foul on Carney.
Adelaide's first serious misfortune came in the 12th minute when Ross Aloisi ¬ their midfield organiser, injured during training ¬ had to be replaced.
Nice touches were shown by Dodd playing through to Rech, Zdrilic winning a free kick from Michael Valkanis, and Talay turning around Veart.
In the 17th minute Terry McFlynn struck low to Daniel Beltrame; the swerving shot causing the keeper little consternation.
A couple of Sydney crosses fell in favour of the Adelaide defence and Brain made a great tackle on a too-casual Petrovski. Generally, however, Sydney were sharp and lively pushing the ball around.
Talay fluffed a shot, Qu made a couple of crosses, one with each foot, and Carney beat Aaron Goulding.
Timpano got up in the Adelaide penalty area to meet a Sydney free kick and Sydney won a corner.
Carney did well playing out of defence through some Adelaide attackers and then feeding Zdrilic. Brain and Veart looked good applying pressure when Sydney had possession.
Veart, great on the left flank, serviced by a ball from the backline, beat two Sydney players before slipping the ball through to Goulding ¬ just offside.
Alvin Ceccoli, having another solid game up and down Sydney's left, won a corner which was held by Beltrame.
Talay and Ceccoli combined before Talay switched to Carney on the right ¬ offside.
McFlynn hit a fine long ball to Carney who crossed to Corica who shot wide.
In the 32nd minute Petrovski looked to be through on goal but the referee again pulled Sydney back for an Adelaide free kick.
Bolton was smart keeping the ball away from Veart and Carney was fouled by Goulding after making more good progress up Sydney's right. Petrovski had a chance with his back to goal but couldn't turn quickly enough.
Dodd earned his yellow card in the 37th minute for hacking Talay.
McFlynn hit a pretty lob into the Adelaide penalty area, just too long for Zdrilic.
Fyfe won out against two Adelaide attackers, but they came again and won a corner, taken by Qu. Ceccoli headed clear from inside the six yard box.
Goulding earned his yellow card snapping back after Carney humiliated him.
Petrovski took on four or five Adelaide players and almost got into a shooting position, but the defence recovered sufficiently to only concede a corner.
Sydney then got into the Adelaide goal box with four one-touch passes. The final shot was deflected wide. Sydney were so on top at this point that as soon as Adelaide had the ball to take a goal kick the Cove chanted, "Give us the ball back!"
Packer's yellow possibly came from a misunderstanding: after 45 minutes the referee blew for an infringement; Packer kicked the ball away, apparently thinking it was the half-time whistle.
Adelaide had a good chance from the free kick, however. Dodd ran through onto the kick, taken outside the top left corner of the box ¬ a practised routine ¬ and sliced his shot just wide.
Sydney came out in the second half having lifted a gear ΔΆ but Adelaide was first to open the goal account.
Talay turned on the class and Petrovski was brilliant fighting his way down the left sideline ¬ before wasting his cross. Soon Petrovski had the ball again the left corner and made a much better effort with his cross, putting some pressure on Beltrame.
Timpano made a good, strong tackle in the right back corner, and then Valkanis tackled well against Carney who was running the ball into the right side of the Adelaide penalty area.
And it was Valkanis who put Adelaide on the scoreboard in the 51st minute, running for a barely contested header at the left post, meeting a corner from Qu on the right.
From that point Adelaide had to do what they can do so well: defend with assurance. While Sydney threw themselves forward.
Veart and Kemp were good shutting down Ceccoli, and Kemp, playing out of defence, was great beating Zdrilic and Corica.
Sydney were soon rewarded, however, when a long throw from Ceccoli was headed back out to McFlynn whose low shot was spilled by Beltrame. Carney pounced for an easy equaliser while Beltrame was still prostrate.
Talay and Ceccoli almost pulled off a neat manoeuvre on the left and Rech fought hard in the Sydney penalty area but couldn't get into a decent shooting position.
There was some dazzling play by Sydney in midfield, popping the ball around before sending it wide to Ceccoli whose cross was woeful.
Bugeja, on for Dodd, hit a cracker on target but it must have collected the post and/or a player because Adelaide won a corner. An Adelaide head was first to it, but it flew harmlessly across the penalty area.
Zdrilic and Petrovski played Corica into the Adelaide penalty area, but Corica was stopped by Rees.
A very sweet combination between Veart, Rech and Qu ¬ with a special back heel from Veart to Rech ¬ only resulted in an easy pick up for Bolton.
In the 67th minute Petrovski headed just over goal on a corner from the right.
Corica hit a precision ball to Carney on the right. Carney fought to get his cross away and found Zdrilic who was bustled out of the action.
Costanzo made a good tackle on Petrovski ΔΆ with unfortunate consequences. Firstly he hurt himself, and secondly the ball fell for Ceccoli who hit a ripper that Beltrame had to push wide.
In the 72nd minute Petrovski broke away from near half way and headed to goal, the referee waving advantage after an Adelaide foot nearly took off his nose. Petrovski found Zdrilic in front of goal and, for a moment, unmarked. Zdrilic pulled a mirror from his back pocket to check that his grease paint hadn't run. By the time he'd pocketed the mirror and rehearsed his celebrations in his head the ball was up the other end of the pitch.
Richie Alagich, who had come on to replace fellow substitute Brain, hammered a shot wide from a sharp angle.
Rees was decked during a scuffle after Sydney were denied a penalty. It's unclear how a couple of punch throwers were not dismissed.
Petrovski launched a shot that was blocked, only for Corica to pick up the pieces and weave his way through several players into the Adelaide penalty area. Bugeja stopped him.
Ceccoli heroically collected a wild clearance from Timpano and crossed to Petrovski who again was shut down.
Talay looked to have been dragged down in the six yard box after Carney battled hard to cross in from the right (perhaps Talay was really, really clumsy ¬ but I wanted to see that replayed half a dozen times).
I started writing that Carney was good doing something else but Talay interrupted with a low shot from 25 metres, just wide to the left of goal. Talay was immediately replaced by Robbie Middleby. (Adelaide had no hope: it was four ex-Wolves versus one.)
The winner came three minutes later, thanks to a free kick won by Carney on the right. The ball cannoned to Petrovski outside the left post and he finished well.
Rees was very good fighting off Zdrilic who was too slow to take proper advantage of a very classy through ball from Petrovski.
Then hell, busting to break loose all night, had its chance. With McFlynn down and motionless near half way and 18,000 people baying for the ball to be kicked out, the referee let play go on ΔΆ and on. From one end to the other. Adelaide attacked with ferocity. Sydney, back-pedalling, lost control. A ball was fired in from the right. Qu headed to the left post. Sydney cleared off the line. With the immediate danger over but with Adelaide still in possession the referee sought to attend to McFlynn. And was swarmed by Adelaide players appealing for a penalty. Endless TV replays. The ball didn't seem to cross the line. Completely. But did Timpano handball!?
Not according to Mr Shield.
Two minutes of time added on and Mathew Bingley replaced McFlynn. Sydney were out of danger, but hostilities continued. Rees clobbered Petrovski. Sydney fans called for the red card but ΔΆ nothing.
Could they care? Not really. They had beaten the frontrunners.
Sydney coach Pierre Littbarski said Sydney's first home win was a win for soccer because Sydney had dominated a great game. It was Sydney's third win in row, but his players had really delivered this time, he said, praising their high work rate.
He was especially happy, he said, because the defenders were supported by midfielders and the forwards: Sydney played as a real team.
Zdrilic said it was a tough, physical game with hard challenges.
Adelaide coach John Kosmina wasn't willing to concede Sydney's dominance: "Sydney struggled to beat us ΔΆ We had more clear cut chances ΔΆ We got behind them more than they got in behind us."
He said, "The forces of the universe conspired against us today." Kosmina thought TV replays would show that Timpano handballed and that Carney's goal was offside.
He thought many of his players were overawed by the big crowd. He also said it was a physical match and that Rech, not fully fit, was on the raw end of some tough challenges.
While he admitted Sydney had skilful players and a lot of experience, he said Sydney was the Hollywood of Australia and a couple of Sydney players lived up to that.
Sydney's first home win ¬ however slight, however dubious ¬ (and Adelaide's first loss) means there are still many claims for top spot and both teams still must prove themselves worthy.
But I'm not saying that's good for football "not as you know it"; hell no, Mr Kosmina. I'm not one of those biased brown-nose the A-League reporters. I'm with you: Who cares if it's close? You just want to see the best team win on the day, and if it's your team you hope that's every day. And by as big as margin as possible!
And ¬ roll out that red carpet ¬ it just so happened that this was Hollywood's ΔΆ er ΔΆ Sydney's day.