Saturday football wrap
Melbourne Victory returned to the top of the Hyundai A-League table and Central Coast produced one of the season's most emphatic performances as the National Youth League and Westfield W-League action all fired up on a big Saturday around the country.
Archie Thompson's sixth goal of the season in the eighth minute sealed all three points in front of 9904 fans at Suncorp Stadium, the triumph being the sixth of the campaign from seven starts on the road for Victory, which moves two points clear of Sydney FC ahead of its clash in Perth on Sunday.
The visitors enjoyed much of the possession in the opening 10 minutes, a period in which they grabbed the lead but the goal sparked the Roar into action, the hosts having much of the ball for the remainder of the half.
Brisbane broke down in its front third and Victory's defence got back in numbers as it seemed content to trouble its opponent on the counter and the pattern continued for much of the second half before Henrique was red-carded with minutes remaining.
Further north and Central Coast has produced one of the season's most emphatic performances, humbling the North Queensland Fury on Saturday night in a 5-1 thrashing at Dairy Farmers Stadium.
The Mariners showed their class with a frenzied 15 minute period that saw Pedj Bojic (22) and Nik Mrdja (35) score.
The visitors then capped it off after the break with Mrdja netting a second just before the hour followed by Ahmad Elrich (62) and John Hutchinson (82) - making it the side-s first five-goal outing.
In the National Youth League, the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) and Central Coast Mariners fought out a gritty 0-0 draw in their round 11 clash at the AIS Athletics Track on Saturday.
In what could have been a David versus Goliath match due to the recent dominance of the Central Coast side, the fixture saw the AIS go in with a strengthened team due to the return of various players from national duty in Indonesia.
And the reinforcements showed their class, with the team able to end their run of conceding four goals in each of their last three games.
To the Westfield W-League and a brace from Central Coast goal machine Michelle Heyman has helped the Mariners to a hard-fought 2-0 win over Melbourne Victory at Sydney's Leichhardt Oval.
The two strikes in each half bring the lethal striker's season tally to ten goals and were just reward for a Mariners' outfit that toiled hard against a physical Melbourne side.
Veteran midfielder Kelly Golebiowski was outstanding in a yellow shirt while American import Kendall Fletcher was solid all day for the Coast.
For Victory, Monique Hansen-Kofoed worked hard in the visitor's engine-room and was a constant threat with her creativity from midfield and willingness to shoot from distance.
The result sees Central Coast climb to the top of the table, two points ahead of Brisbane, which plays Adelaide on Sunday, and Sydney FC which enjoyed a fine 5-2 win over Perth Glory at Leichardt.
Powered by a Leena Khamis double, Sydney came from a goal down to lead 4-1 at the break and didn't look back from there.