Week 14 of the 2011/12 A-League season passed on the weekend with another lot of interesting results to go past the halfway mark.
The first match of the round saw Adelaide United record a 1-1 home draw with Brisbane Roar who scored first through Issey Nakajima-Farran before Sergio van Dijk leveled with a 78th minute penalty. The result left the Roar second on the table whilst the Reds dropped to eighth despite extending their unbeaten run to four.
The sacking of coach Mehmet Durakovic motivated the Melbourne Victory to a 2-1 win over Newcastle Jets with Danny Allsopp relishing his return to the starting line-up with an early opener. A Sung-Hwan Byun own-goal put the home side two ahead after Tarek Elrich was shown a straight red early in the second half before Ryan Griffiths grabbed a consolation for the Jets who dropped to second bottom with Melbourne jumping to sixth.
Perth Glory completed a smash and grab job at Wellington Phoenix with Josh Mitchell heading home in injury time to record a 1-0 win to move up to seventh as Central Coast Mariners went eight points clear on top with a 1-0 away win over Sydney FC courtesy of Oliver Bozanic's ninth minute goal to inflict the Sky Blues' third straight defeat.
And finally, Gold Coast United and Melbourne Heart played out a 1-1 draw in Robina with Kristian Sarkies' early goal being canceled out by United striker Maceo Rigters leaving the Heart third and the home side three points behind at the bottom.
2011/12 A-League season scores - Week 14
Adelaide United: 1 (Sergio van Dijk (p) 78') Brisbane Roar: 1 (Issey Nakajima-Farran 60') Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide - 11,274
Melbourne Victory: 2 (Danny Allsopp 6', Sung-Hwan Byun (og) 74') Newcastle Jets: 1 (Ryan Griffiths 85', red card: Tarek Elrich 53') AAMI Park, Melbourne - 14,897
Wellington Phoenix: 0 Perth Glory: 1 (Josh Mitchell 90') Westpac Stadium, Wellington
Sydney FC: 0 Central Coast Mariners: 1 (Oliver Bozanic 9') Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney
Gold Coast United: 1 (Maceo Rigters 72') Melbourne Heart: 1 (Kristian Sarkies 8') Skilled Park, Robina - 2,081