KEY POINTS:
As the halfway point ticked over the A-league's 11th round last weekend, the continued theme was how little there is between the teams.
The first three games were all won 1-0 - by the away team, with second-half strikes. The coincidences didn't end there: all three goalscorers, Reinaldo (Queensland Roar), Daniel (Wellington Phoenix) and Mark Bridges (Sydney FC) were later booked.
Daniel's 52nd-minute goal in Perth was the earliest. All other goals, including the three in Gosford, where the Central Coast Mariners came from a goal down to beat Melbourne Victory 2-1, were scored in the last 27 minutes.
Reinaldo's 64th-minute strike in Adelaide earned Queensland three points, to put them back in the top four, and saw Adelaide surrender the lead at the top to the Mariners.
Queensland are back at Suncorp Stadium on Sunday to play the Phoenix, who face a third road trip in as many games after their loss in Adelaide and win in Perth.
The first three matches also produced 17 yellow cards and crowds of 10,705 (Adelaide), 7105 (Perth) and 16,433 (Newcastle).
It was a different story in Gosford. In front of 11,543 at Bluetongue Stadium - a game which featured the only two coaches surviving from round one of the Hyundai A-League (in 2005), Laurie McKinna (Central Coast) and Ernie Merrick (Victory) - Carlos Hernandez gave Melbourne a 79th-minute lead. But that lasted only five minutes before Sasho Petrovski equalised.
Five minutes later, Tom Pondeljak completed the fairytale with his winner.
Petrovski was booked after scoring - and, a minute into stoppage time, he was gone, his dismissal following a melee in which Melbourne's Rodrigo Vargas was also dismissed by referee Mark Shield who, rightly, had earlier dismissed Melbourne's Joseph Keenan for a terrible 23rd-minute challenge.
Melbourne were the only team not to have had a player cautioned but were the worst off in having two ordered off.
Central Coast have home advantage in this week's top match-up, when they meet Adelaide United on Saturday.
The same day, Melbourne, out of the playoff race and with their red card woes, must regroup for the battle with Sydney at Telstra Stadium.
Perth, under caretaker coach David Mitchell, head for Newcastle on Friday night.
