Melbourne Victory and Perth Glory played out a scoreless draw at Docklands Stadium in front of another healthy-sized Melbourne attendance on Saturday evening.
Grant Brebner had an opportunity to reprise his role of last season when his last-minute thunderbolt from distance was enough to give Melbourne a one-nil victory, but this time his shot from similar distance went narrowly over the bar.
Jamie Harnwell, who had been introduced late on from the Glory bench to good effect, also had a late chance to steal the points when he set up Mate Dragicevic with a cross, but Dragicevic's header was marginally too high.
"It was a little disappointing," said captain Kevin Muscat about the draw after the game. "But I thought overall we performed pretty well."
"We kept a clean sheet, and took away a point," he said.
Coach Ernie Merrick was of similar view, although he thought Melbourne should have won the game. "We should have punished them several times in the first half. (Failing to do so) always puts the pressure on the defence. How many one-on-ones did we have with the goalkeeper?"
"There were some things about tonight's game that I wasn't too happy about," said Glory coach Ron Smith after the game. "I'd like us to have had a little more composure at times."
"But if (we) can keep (Archie Thompson and Danny Allsopp) quiet for ninety minutes, that's some achievement," he said. "It was a pretty even game."
Simon Colossimo and Dino Djulbic effectively combined in the heart of the Glory defence, and neither gave the Victory forwards much time. Indeed, it was a last-ditch tackle by Djulbic on Thompson late on when Thompson had found some space and was galloping goalwards which likely saved the game for Glory.
"I didn't have enough time to think about it really," said Djulbic. "(I) didn't want him to score, and (I) just had to make sure I went for the ball."
This early in the campaign, it was clear both teams were still finding their feet, often literally so on the tricky Docklands Stadium surface, damaged as it is as a consequence of the need to over-paint the graffiti cluttering the playing area left by co-tenant Aussie Rules sides.
The Victory supporters however immediately picked up where they left off as if there had been no off-season at all. The attendance of over 31,000 was in fine voice from well before the game began and continued throughout the contest.
Both sides found their plans disrupted before too long. Joe Keenan left the field after only ten minutes feeling his hamstring and was replaced by Matthew Kemp. "(Keenan) could (out) be a couple of weeks or more," said Merrick.
Ray Sekulovski got Steve Pantelidis' boot in his face in an accidental clash midway through the first half which earnt Pantelidis a caution and Sekulovski some time on the sidelines as the Glory bench decided whether he could continue. After some assessment, Sekulovski returned to the fray, but had little influence for the remainder of the half, and it was no surprise to see him replaced at the interval by Anthony Danze. Glory was upset that Pantelidis saw only a yellow card for the incident, and Sekulovski was sent for X-rays to determine whether he had a fractured cheekbone.
"I thought (Pantelidis) was lucky not to have got a red card," said Smith. "Yellow cards ought to have some kind of grade on them. How (does) that match up as the same value as the one that Leo (Bertos) got for barely touching somebody? One nearly kicks somebody's head off, and the other one barely touches a player."
Carlos Hernandez also was finding things tough, but it was his relative slowness in decision-making which was the cause of his difficulty. Perhaps he'll come up to speed as the season unfolds. Hernandez certainly has the touch, and on a number of occasions was able to set Archie Thompson and Danny Allsopp free. He too did not re-appear for the second half, being replaced by exciting youngster Kaz Patafta. Merrick suggested the change had been made for tactical reasons and perhaps this might have been a major factor, but Victory had more speed in attack in the second half with the Costa Rican withdrawn.
Glory had the greater number of shots, and marginally more possession, but there was little between the teams, and a losing side - either of them - would have had just grievance for the unfairness of it. A scoreless draw can sometimes seem unsatisfying, but this one came with lively action and end-to-end play, and with both sides willing to compete.
Later in the season, with the sides' level of sharpness increasing, the rematch should prove tantalising fare.