Adelaide youth up to second
With Round 9 of the Hyundai A-League and the first round of the Westfield W-League set to be completed on Monday, the National Youth League took centre stage on Sunday.
Adelaide recorded its first home win of the season with a 1-0 triumph over Newcastle to move up to second, while Melbourne and Brisbane played out an entertaining 1-1 draw.
A crude tackle on Liam Wooding, just inside the box, earned Adelaide a penalty in the 41st minute, which captain Matthew Mullen took and beat the left hand of the diving Jets goalkeeper Neil Young.
Newcastle thought it had a 78th-minute equaliser when an Adrian Karakolevski cross was put into the back of the net by Jason Naidovski but he was deemed offside.
The result sees the Reds move into second spot on the NYL ladder while the Jets have slipped to eighth.
In Melbourne, Victory captain Aziz Behich opened the scoring in the 25th minute with a cracking free kick. Kliment Taseki gave his captain the chance after his mazy run drew a clumsy challenge right on the edge of the penalty area.
Left-footer Behich stepped up to smash a cracking shot into the left corner of the net.
Roar captain Luke Bratten replied with a wonderful free kick of his own in the 64th minute to ensure the points were shared in front of 366 people.
Sydney and Central Coast play each other on Monday with the winner guaranteed top spot, while Adelaide can keep the pressure up when it takes on Newcastle at HIndmarsh Stadium.