Mariners back on track

In a thrilling day of football action right around the country, the Central Coast Mariners made life more miserable for the Roar with a 3-0 win as North Queensland skipper Robbie Fowler rescued a point for his side with a late equaliser against Wellington.

In a thrilling day of football action right around the country, the Central Coast Mariners made life more miserable for the Roar with a 3-0 win as North Queensland skipper Robbie Fowler rescued a point for his side with a late equaliser against Wellington.

At Suncorp Stadium, the Mariners powered past Brisbane in a sadly fitting end to a tumultuous week at the Roar.

Some poor defence from Bob Malcom allowed Nicky Travis to nip in and score the opener for Central Coast in the fourth minute, before John Hutchinson's pace took him through the back four to score a magnificent solo goal 14 minutes later.

Brisbane had a good chance to pull one back but Matt McKay fluffed his lines before Pedj Bojic latched onto an errant pass from Luke Devere to kill off the contest 20 minutes from time.

The victory is Central Coast's first since its Round 7 demolition of Gold Coast United and sees the Mariners climb to fourth on the table as the Roar drop to seventh.

The Fury, meanwhile, remain in last position but it is now level on points with Newcastle after a 1-1 draw with the eighth-placed Wellington Phoenix.

The New Zealanders went into the side having claimed five draws in a row so it was hardly surprising when this one ended up going that way too on a warm Saturday night at Dairy Farmers Stadium.

Fury midfielder James Robinson had a great opportunity to open the scoring in the first minute, but when he missed the chance, the Phoenix took it down the other end for Tim Brown to nod home in the fifth minute.

But despite enjoying a number of chances, the Phoenix couldn't add to the score and fell victim to a Fowler equaliser six minutes from time in an increasingly familiar tale.

To the Westfield W-League, and four teams are now sitting on six points at the top of the table, although Central Coast and Brisbane, first and second respectively, will have the chance to move further ahead when they clash on Sunday afternoon.

Third-placed Melbourne, though, produced an impressive 2-0 win over Adelaide United at Hindmarsh Stadium.

The Victory dominated the first half and were rewarded with a 29th-minute goal to Katrina Gorry before second-half substitute Selin Kurulay doubled the advantage closing in on full time.

While Melbourne outclassed its opponent, the young Adelaide line-up was brave in defeat, blocking, tackling and chasing all day to keep the scoreboard damage to a minimum.

For fourth-placed Sydney FC, an early Leena Khamis strike delivered a 1-0 result over Newcastle in an entertaining fixture at EnergyAustralia Stadium.

In just the fifth minute of play, Khamis scored the game's only goal, firing past Jets custodian Alison Logue following a cross into the box by midfielder Julie Rydahl.

Despite sharing the possession through midfield throughout, the home side was unable to find a way back into the match against its more experienced opponent.

And on a scorching 37-degree day in Western Australia, Canberra United came from two goals down to draw 2-2 at Clipsal Stadium.

The Glory stunned the capital club in the first ten minutes, racing out to its lead through a Collette McCallum penalty and a fortuitous ricochet off Marianna Tabain.

But Canberra maintained the intensity and late goals to Shu O Tseng and Ashleigh Sykes saw them return home with a point in the bag.

And finally, in the National Youth League, Gold Coast United has thrashed Perth Glory 4-0 following an inspirational display by lightning young forward Golgol Mebrahtu.

Mebrahtu's 13th-minute goal gave United the lead at the break and the side went on with it after that as Andrew Barasic, Ben Halloran and Zach Anderson all found the back of the net in the second half.