Fowler fires Fury
It's been a good day for Queensland sides in the Hyundai A-League as a cracking goal from Robbie Fowler helped North Queensland to its first ever victory, while the Brisbane Roar sounded an ominous warning to the rest of the competition.
At the Sydney Football Stadium, almost 17,000 people saw Robbie Fowler score one of the season's best goals as North Queensland finally earned full points for its effort in a 1-0 victory over Sydney FC.
Having gone close in the last three weeks to pulling off wins against Melbourne, Adelaide and Brisbane, North Queensland supporters would have been rueing their luck once again during the first half when goalkeeper Paul Henderson gave away a penalty for a clumsy challenge on Alex Brosque.
But, the stopper, back in the Fury's starting line-up for this match, stepped up to the plate, diving to his left to deny John Aloisi's spot kick and setting the tone for a committed effort by the Fury that was given some extra polish by Fowler's class.
There were plenty of Liverpool shirts in the crowd merely following the man known as 'God', and the former Toxteth Terror delivered, looping a stunning 25-metre shot into the back of the net in the 53rd minute that gave Clint Bolton no chance.
The victory still means the Fury are on the bottom of the Hyundai A-League table, but the new club is now level on five points with Melbourne and Wellington ahead of those two teams playing on Sunday.
For Sydney, the Sky Blues missed the chance to temporarily climb above Gold Coast United once more into top position on the table. United plays Perth Glory on Sunday, and a win by Miron Bleiberg's men will see them establish a five-point lead over Sydney in the race for a top two finish.
Sydney, though, finds itself just one point above third-placed Brisbane, after the Roar finally delivered on its early-season promise with an impressive 3-0 win over Newcastle (sixth).
Brazilian winger Henrique opened the scoring in the 23rd minute and he was closely followed by compatriot Reinaldo, who doubled the advantage three minutes later.
The Jets enjoyed some good spells during the second half, but a late strike by Scotsman Charlie Miller, delivered the points for the Queensland side.
In a good weekend so far for Brazilians, Adelaide United's Cassio fired home a 32nd-minute goal for the Reds in their 1-0 Friday-night win over Central Coast at Hindmarsh Stadium.
In National Youth League action on Saturday, the Jets turned the tables on Brisbane as Jason Naidovski scored twice in a 3-2 win.
Naidovski's double came either side of a goal from Scott Balderson, while Stefan Vrbesic and Tim Smits scored for Brisbane.
And, finally Sydney FC has kicked off its National Youth League title defence with a 1-0 win over the AIS side through a 40th-minute goal to Chris Payne.