North Queensland Fury downed Sydney FC 2-1 at Dairy Farmers Stadium in Townsville on Saturday night with all goals coming in the last 25 minutes after a stalemated first half.
In the 32nd minute Alex Brosque hit the side netting from the left and 6 minutes later at the other end Ufuk Talay hit a shot for the Fury just wide of the left post - not a lot more to see.
The second half started much like the first, although Scott Jamieson could have done better with a free-kick sent over the bar in the 57th minute.
The game came to life mid-way in the second half with the Fury taking the lead in the 65th minute through a Chris Grossman strike from the edge of the penalty area on the left, after a cut in and lay-off by Chris Payne. 1-0
Fury could have gone further ahead if David Williams had kept his snap shot that went over, down.
Sydney FC lifted and levelled the scores with Scott Jamieson heading home low down from the left side of goal in the 82nd minute off a cross from captain Terry McFlynn. 1-1
In less than one minute of the re-start, the Fury added their second goal through substitute Dyron Daal. Again it was Chris Payne who contributed, setting up Daal for a run that ended with a wicked shot that Liam Reddy in the Sydney goal couldn't hold. 2-1
The North Queensland side played in front of a modest crowd but the locals should get out and support their side, as they are playing some exciting football at times under new coach, Czech Franz Straka, and now are sitting higher on the ladder than they've ever been.
Sydney is showing some of the problems that surfaced in pre-season and will need to fix them fast.