A wise man once said football is a game of numbers. Two Liam Reddy mistakes, two brilliant edge of the box free kicks, one penalty, one training park set piece, six yellow cards, six goals and a partridge in a pear tree.
The Central Coast Mariners walked away from Suncorp Stadium with their well-deserved first win of the season meanwhile the home side still struggled to flow.
The game started spritefully with a few early chances keeping both keepers on their toes and a few harsh early challenges, including a tussle in the box after a corner between Simon and Reddy, keeping the yellows going with four in the first half hour.
Things didn't look good for the Mariners when after 12 minutes of play Ahmed Elrich was taken off with what was later said a season ending knee injury.
Just after the half hour mark however Liam Reddy and Matt Simon met once more. A long ball to the outside corner of the box had Reddy charging out despite debutant Luke DeVere seeming to have the better of Simon. The ball was still outside the box when Reddy and DeVere's miscommunication meant Simon controlled the ball and finished from a tight angle.
The Roar attack fired a little before halftime but still couldn't penetrate the Mariner's line.
When the teams returned the Mariners seemed to be all over the Queensland back line which despite having the best defender in the league has struggled to look confident this year, especially against a tall Central Coast side they looked very weak in the air.
After a stumbling challenge the Mariners had a free from twenty metres out. Jedinak's right boot fired a missile of a free kick past the wall and past a diving Liam Reddy. I didn't seem to have much movement but the power and position of the ball was enough to see the Central Coast up Two-Nil.
A triple substitution in the 61st minute by Frank Farina saw a drastic change in the game with Central Coast already sitting back, Farina changed to a diamond 3-4-3 with Craig Moore hold the centre on his own and allowing the extra man to attack.
The ten minute spurt of four goals had to be some of the most exciting football I've seen played in Australia. It started with another miscommunication between Reddy and DeVere with Reddy again not trusting the debutant on the edge of the box, again rushing up and again getting scored against, this time Macallister on debut was the one to put the ball into an open net.
It was a horrible night for the usually consistent Liam Reddy who really needs to work on his trust skills even with a younger inexperienced player.
For the second goal Queensland were passing flat about 30 metres out, as they were for the majority of the game, McKay put a little ball through for Miller who ran onto it and was taken down by a body check from Pedj Bojic. Miller's free kick, consisting of a three step run up curled over the wall and sailed past a dumfounded Mark Bosnich.
Mark Bosnich's first game back was as exciting as a coke trip(subtle?) as the former United, Chelsea and Villa shot-stopper was penalised for bringing down a sprinting Massimo Murdocca who had latched onto a Miller through ball and was behind the defense.
van Dijk stepped up to the spot and tucked away his first goal of the season.
The fourth and final goal of the game came from a brilliant set move that assured the Mariners didn't just get lucky, that they had earned this victory. A few passes between the fullback Porter and Hutchinson shook DeVere on the right and Moore who was alone in the centre was drawn in. Hutchinson smoothly played the ball to Macallister who had plenty of space to tuck his shot into the top right corner.
Queensland still peppered the Central Coast and the referee was consistently disappointing the small 12,000 Brisbane crowd, refusing to give anything away.
The Roar will need to improve on their chance taking if they are going to progress this season and as for the Central Coast, if you give them a sniff they will punish you and that's what you need in this defensively strong league.