Upsets abound in Hyundai A-League
It was a big day for upsets in the Hyundai A-League as Newcastle and Brisbane rocketed back into contention this season through emphatic wins over Sydney and Wellington respectively.
At the Sydney Football Stadium, Englishman Michael Bridges marked his return to former club Sydney FC with two goals as the Jets stunned the Sky Blues with an unexpected 3-1 win on Sunday evening.
The former Leeds United star, who played nine games for Sydney as a guest player two years ago, scored goals either side of the break to inflict just the second home loss on Sydney this season.
Jets skipper Matt Thompson grabbed the third goal in the same week he announced he'd be joining new Hyundai A-League outfit Melbourne Heart next season before Alex Brosque responded for Sydney late in the game.
The defeat before 10,114 fans was the Sky Blues' third in a row, leaving them clinging to second spot five points behind leaders Melbourne.
Newcastle leapfrogged North Queensland into eighth position on the table, leaving last year's runners-up Adelaide on the bottom following its loss to the Fury on Saturday night.
Brisbane Roar, meanwhile has climbed into seventh, on equal points with Newcastle but enjoying a substantially better goal difference, that was helped markedly by a 4-1 win over Wellington on Sunday night at Suncorp Stadium.
Reinaldo did most of the damage, scoring twice for the hosts before Sergio van Dijk netted his 20th Hyundai A-League goal after the break and substitute David Dodd added some polish during added time.
Reinaldo opened the scoring in the 17th minute, when a back-post header from van Dijk's was parried into the Brazilian's path by Phoenix stopper Reece Crowther.
Chris Greenacre responded for Wellington 10 minutes later but that was as good as it got for the visitors as they slumped to their first loss in three games.
It was a big day in the National Youth League as well, with three matches played across the country.
In Melbourne, Gold Coast United stormed to the top of the National Youth League table via a romping 5-0 win over the Victory at the Veneto Club ground.
The visitors battered a dejected looking Melbourne side in the second half with four goals after the Victory were unlucky to find themselves 1-0 down at the break.
Lead scorer Andrew Barisic opened the scoring for United on 25 minutes with his sixth goal of the campaign before a brace from strike partner Chris Harold and goals from Ben Halloran and Bobby Russell sunk the Victory.
Adelaide United, meanwhile, has kept its hopes alive through a hard-fought 2-0 win over the AIS in their Round 12 clash at the AIS Athletics Track.
After a seesawing first half with at least three genuine chances for each team but no goals, the Reds took advantage of a couple of defensive blunders to ensure they went home with the points.
And finally, completing a good day for Newcastle at the SFS, the Jets also posted a 3-1 win over Sydney FC.
The fifth-placed Sky Blues had the chance to move up to equal second spot with a victory over Newcastle but were sunk by two second-half goals.
Newcastle's three goals were provided by Mario Simic, Jason Naidovski and an Antony Golec (own goal), with Matthew Jurman scoring for the hosts.
The win lifts the Jets clear of the competition's lower reaches, giving hope of a late season revival.