The Brisbane Roar and the Melbourne Victory shared the spoils in the 1-1 draw between the two sides this evening on a terrible Suncorp Stadium pitch.
The Melburnians took an early lead through Leigh Broxham, but Ivan Franjic equalized for the hosts with still half-an-hour left to play.
Neither side could find a winner, but they both had plenty of chances to take an important three points.
Both sides started brightly on a pitch that had two Rugby League games on it just last night.
And it was the Roar who registered the first couple shots on goal, although Victory custodian Nathan Coe was up to the task catching a Besart Berisha header, before denying a Thomas Broich drive.
But it was the Victory who took the lead through the most unlikely of goalscorers, Broxham.
The robust midfielder leaped above his opponent and powered a header into the top corner from an Archie Thompson cross giving the Victory the lead after just 11 minutes.
Brisbane though were applying a lot of attacking pressure as the Victory sat deep and looked to pounce on the counter.
However it was the Victory who went the closest to finding the next goal as Marco Rojas’ free-kick fell for Daniel Mullen.
The defender’s reflexes were terrific as the former Red flicked the ball towards goal, but not as sensational as Roar ‘keeper Michael Theo who punched the ball away magnificently with his right fist.
Theo was keeping the Roar in the game as he denied Thompson’s effort on the stroke of half-time, which meant the Victory took a 1-0 lead into the break.
Brisbane came out the stronger of the two sides and grabbed a deserved equalizer through Melburnian Franjic.
The attacking fullback, who has been rejuvenated as a winger, charged down the right with plenty of space, with Adama Traore caught up field, and rifled his effort through the legs of Coe.
Just after conceding the Victory were dealt a blow as Traore, one of the in-form defenders of the competition, was forced off after his right ankle was caught underneath the sliding challenge of Franjic.
The Roar had the momentum to take the points and went close as substitute Mitch Nichols drilled just wide.
But the Victory were still dangerous as well.
Connor Pain was found on the left and drilled an effort only for Theo to pull off another excellent low save.
The Roar could have snatched the three points, but Coe denied Ben Halloran with a spectacular save.
Ange Postecoglou’s Victory held onto the late point, which takes them to 40 points, five points behind Central Coast. Meanwhile Brisbane are a point outside the top six.
