John Kosmina's gamble of playing the first leg of the major semi-final at home may have backfired after Adelaide United could only manage a draw against Sydney FC in front of a packed Hindmarsh Stadium.
Sydney FC is now in the box seat for the return leg to be played next week in Sydney on Sunday 19th February.
Adelaide was forced to reshuffle its side from last week after midfielder Lucas Pantelis pulled up lame with a knee problem. In a surprise move Kosmina brought in youngster Robert Cornthwaite to play right fullback and moved Richie Alagich, the regular right fullback, into the midfield.
Sydney named an unchanged starting eleven with teenage recruit Tolgay Ozbey sitting on the bench after signing for the club last week.
The conditions were almost perfect conditions for football with the temperature hovering around the low to mid twenties, a clear sky and a gentle breeze.
Adelaide kicked off the game to a roar of the home crowd. In the opening minutes there was little between the two sides though it was immediately clear neither side was going sit back and defend.
In the 8th minute Sydney capitalised on a poor pass by Adelaide's Carl Veart. Young Ruben Zadkovich intercepted the pass, ran 50m through the heart of Adelaide's midfield before laying off the ball to an unmarked Steve Corica just inside the box. Corica chipped the ball over the onrushing Daniel Beltrame and the ball slid past defender Michael Valkanis before going in off the post. 1-0 to Sydney and Hindmarsh Stadium was suddenly very quiet.
Two minutes later Sydney's David Carney put striker Sasho Petrovski through down the flank. Petrovski attempted to square the ball to the un-marked Corica who would have had only had the goalkeeper to beat. But Petrovski's pass was very meek and was easily intercepted by Adelaide's Angelo Costanzo - the only Adelaide player between Petrovski, Corica and the Adelaide goal.
In the 15th minute Carl Veart was lucky to remain on the ground after deliberately following through with his elbow after the ball had gone. Milligan was carried from the ground though later returned while Veart escaped unpunished.
Adelaide's first serious threat on goals came in the 10th minute when Carl Veart attempted to set striker Qu through. Qu streaked towards goal but he was only just beaten to the ball by the outstretched hand of the onrushing Clint Bolton in goals for Sydney.
Sydney continued to threaten Adelaide with Corica and Zadkovich finding a lot of space down the left flank. It was Zadkovich who sent striker Petrovski down the flank with Adelaide's Angelo Costanzo coming to the rescue with a dangerous sliding tackle inside the box.
In the 25th minute Ceccoli threaded the ball to Dwight Yorke who turned, ran 30m to the edge of the Adelaide penalty box before attempting to setup up David Carney. Beltrame was out quickly and dived on the ball just before Carnet could reach it.
Sydney looked in control of the game and on the 30 minute mark Dwight Yorke almost doubled the score. After some scrambling play by both teams Steve Corica broke through the Adelaide backlines down the right flank. Corica hit the by-line before putting in a low dangerous cross. Costanzo intercepted the cross but the ball became stuck under his feet and Yorke was on hand to prod the ball goal wards. Fortunately for Adelaide the ball hit young defender Cornthwaite and after a few moments of un-certainty Cornthwaite was able to clear the danger.
Adelaide counterattacked immediately with a long searching ball from Veart finding Travis Dodd flying down the left flank. Dodd used his pace to step past defender Milligan before cutting inside into the box. He kept going inside past goalkeeper Bolton before hitting the ball goal wards. The two Sydney players on the goal line could do little more than watch as Dodd's shot was perfectly placed. It was a brilliant solo goal that brought Hindmarsh Stadium back to life. In only ten seconds Sydney went from almost doubling their lead to 2 goals to suddenly being back on level terms.
Two minutes later Adelaide won a corner. Qu curled the corner into the back post. Fernando Rech headed the ball home through a pack of players from only one metre out. It was a stunning turn around for Adelaide who had spent the majority of the first 30 minutes chasing Sydney FC. It was Rech's seventh goal of the season and the score was 2-1 in favour of Adelaide.
Adelaide's lead was short-lived with Sydney levelling the score with a well-worked goal in the 39th minuted. Corica spread the ball wide before it was knocked inside to Zadkovich. The youngster switched the ball from the left to the right flank with a great ball to Carney who held up the ball before chipping it further down the flank to Bingley in space. Bingley turned on the ball before crossing into Petrovski who had slipped away from Adelaide's Cornthwaite. The unmarked Petrovski hit a diving header from the five-yard line giving Beltrame no chance of saving it. The scores were level for the third time at 2-2 with only 40 minutes on the clock.
In the final moments of the half Sydney were unfortunate when Yorke put Petrovski through the Adelaide backlines for a one on one with goalkeeper Beltrame. Petrovski was incorrectly ruled offside with a late whistle, as he was about to fire off his shot.
At the half time break the score line was locked at 2 goals each. It was a fantastic opening 45 minutes and we eagerly waited to see what the second half would bring.
Sydney reshuffled its backlines for the second half bringing on Andrew Packer for Jason Timpano and shifting Mark Milligan to the centre of the defence with Packer going into the right back position.
Four minutes into the second half Sydney had a scare when goalkeeper Bolton came for a long ball and was beaten in the air by Cornthwaite. The ball lobbed over the stranded Bolton and it was left to Bingley to head the ball out for a corner.
Sydney seemed content with the 2-2 score line and the game became bogged down in a tough midfield battle between the two sides. If the first half was a game of goals the second half was a game of solid defending.
With Adelaide needing to chase a goal coach Kosmina made an unusual change taking off midfielder Alagich and replacing him with a Kristian Rees - a centre half. On paper this would seem to be a defensive move but clearly Kosmina believed height was the key to unlocking the Sydney goal and Rees has scored some important goals this season from set pieces.
Ten minutes later Kosmina made Sydney even happier when he substituted striker Qu and replaced him with midfielder Louis Brain. Kosmina's hand was forced because Qu was struggling with an injury to his right ankle. The net effect of both substitutions was to change the shape of Adelaide. Veart pushed up front and Costanzo moved into the midfield.
Veart was in the thick of things in the 79th minute when he lashed out with his boot kicking Milligan in the hip when Milligan was going up for a header. Veart's boot was nowhere near the ball and he was punished with a yellow card. A little exchange with Petrovski who raised his hand saw Veart take a dive and the Sydney striker joined Veart in the referee's book. The Sydney bench was furious at the two decisions but the experienced Petrovski should have known better.
In the final minute of the game Adelaide were awarded a free kick just outside the box. Rech stepped up but put his effort high and wide.
Matthew Breeze blew the whistle for full time with the final score line level at 2 all.
This had been a classic game of two contrasting halves - an exciting first half with four goals and each side hitting the front - and a tight goalless second half.
Adelaide coach John Kosmina will be very disappointed to have conceded two goals at home. The result swings the tie in Sydney's favour with away goals counting double if the scores are level after the two games. Further Adelaide may have an excellent away record but they have lost both of their games in Sydney during the season.
Pierre Littbarski will be very pleased to have come away from this tough road trip with 2 away goals. He will be quietly confident Sydney can earn a home final by overcoming Adelaide next week in front of a big home crowd. But he would be wise not to be over confident as Adelaide have proven their doubters wrong all season and next Sunday may just be the next chapter in Adelaide's all conquering season.
Best for Adelaide was goalkeeper Beltrame who was commanding in his box and midfielder Dodd - Costanzo and Valkanis were solid for much of the game.
Best for Sydney was defender Rudan - Corica, Carney and Zadkovich put in solid performances and troubled the Adelaide defence.