We have been accustomed to thrill-a-minute football, laden with sensational goals for weeks now so when Central Coast Mariners and Perth Glory struggled for supremacy and produced only one goal in ninety minutes and a shot off the post at that, we probably felt a little cheated.
But it was an important game for both sides and perhaps the selections made by the respective coaches and their substitutions could have been a deciding factor.
Lawrie McKinna had the luxury of a very settled squad and used it while his opposite number, David Mitchell, has been without Amaral for weeks, had Wayne Srhoj on the injured list, with Dino Djulbic no longer in his plans and for this week at least Eugene Dadi in the same boat.
Newcomer Victor Sikora made his first start for his new club and was deployed in a forward role, just behind the fleet-footed Nikita Rukavytsya.
Unfortunately Glory did not see Rukavytsya at his best. Sikora looked very good and worked hard but Mitchell said after the game that the other player did not work hard enough and he pulled him off.
There was no shortage of hard work from the Mariners who wore Perth down over time and at last got their reward, albeit in unfamiliar fashion.
Midfielder John Hutchinson, who has been toiling away, trying to lift his side over recent weeks, found some space when in receipt of a pass by Adrian Caceres 25 yards out on the right.
The former Morwell and Northern Spirit man, also a leading figure at Manly after the demise of Spirit, has been off target with his shooting in most matches this season, though his crossing and dead ball work has been exemplary.
He and many in the crowd thought he had blown it again, however, when his speculative lob struck the inside of the left hand upright and shot back across goal collecting the right post as it did so.
Nobody was on hand to tidy up with the otherwise impeccable Glory keeper, Tando Velaphi, well beaten. Fortunately for Hutchinson and Central Coast the ball went over the line without the need of a touch from another Mariner.
In beating Perth 1-0 Central Coast shot to the top of the ladder, at least until the weekend and until Adelaide (3), Melbourne (2) and Queensland (2) catch up with their fixture backlog.
Hutchinson could have given his side the lead as early as the first minute but a good tackle from James Downey made sure did not profit from a Dean Heffernan pass inside the six yard box.
Hutchinson also figured in another key moment five minutes further in, nodding on Brad Porter's cross in the direction of Caceres and Saso Petrovski, the latter seeing his finishing effort going just over the bar.
Porter's cross for ex Glory star Mrdja a minute later bounced off the big man's chest and into the arms of a relieved Velaphi.
Mrdja was very active in the early stages of the game, determined to get on the score-sheet in his first start in ages.
He made good ground in the 12th but from 30 yards sent in a shot that just cleared the bar.
His nod down for Caceres in the 15th saw the latter's volley going just wide.
Sikora got the first chance for the visitors in the 20th after a pass from Rukavytsya but while his drive was well struck it failed to trouble a well positioned Danny Vukovic.
A near post header from Hutchinson in the 35th after a great cross from the right by Porter was another effort that went wide, not unlike Petrovski's a minute later from 15 yards after a powerful run into the area.
Downey had Perth's only other significant chance in first half stoppage time, a 20 yard grounder that Vukovic was able to push around the post.
Admittedly Adriano Pellegrino's shot soon after was deflected for a corner off defenders' legs but Perth were not providing any massive threat to the Mariners in the first half.
A classy tackle from Sikora on Heffernan in the 56th robbed the midfielder of a scoring opportunity after Petrovski had delivered a nice ball in.
Petrovski found the side-netting rather than an opponent in the 66th much to McKinna's dismay at the time, as he recalled after the game.
Mitchell pulled off Rukavytsya and threw on Adrian Trinidad, but with his first touch he came to grief on a newly laid section of the pitch and rolled his ankle.
The Argentinean looked dangerous, despite that setback, but once Hutchinson had broken the deadlock and with no Eugene Dadi to call upon this time big Mitch brought on 19 year old former Sorrento WA state league player, Scott Neville, who impressed on debut.
The absence of Srhoj and Dadi on reflection might have cost Glory dearly but Mitchell was making no such excuses.
Velaphi had a blinder as the Mariners made him work overtime while Nikolai Topor-Stanley and Naum Sekulovski both worked hard for their team's attempt to make a last-ditch entry into the top four reckoning.
Another to shine for Perth, other than their rookie keeper, was winger Nick Rizzo.
Jamie Coyne, Jamie Harnwell and Pellegrino were not as effective on this occasion as they had been in some other recent matches.
Central Coast were worthy, if narrow, winners.
"It was a game we had to win," Mariners coach Lawrie McKinna said after the match.
"The first half we dominated and played some good stuff. In the second half they came at us."
"It was going to take a special goal to win it, it was a great strike from Hutch, I was very pleased to see it hit the net. "
Hutchinson said he thought his shot from 25m was not going in .. "I remember Adrian squaring me up, it bobbled off my bad touch and I thought, I'm just going to hit it, so I did and as soon as it started swerving, I was thinking, please don't swerve anymore," said Hutchinson. "When it hit the post I didn't think it was going in, luckily it hit the other post and went in". "I was happy with the strike, the three points and to send Mile off a winner".
He added, "We've proven all year what character we have in the side, from the top with Lawrie all the way down to the people working at the club, everyone puts in their fair share and we never ever give up a game."
Disappointed Perth coach Dave Mitchell said the defeat ends the club"s semi-final hopes. "We've just run out of games which is disappointing because I think because the way we've been playing we would have been a threat. If we had sorted ourselves out earlier we'd still be in it but it's not to be," Mitchell added.
"It was a great goal that beat us," admitted Mitchell.
"We played well as a unit but they put us under a lot of pressure. I think that's it for us now, weve run out of games." "No, we're gone now," said Mitchell.
"We left it too late to find form. We made a bad start this season."
"We've got some good young boys coming through so there"s plenty of positives to take out of the season so far."