Wellington overcome the Wanderers

Having not lost all season at home, few would have picked Wellington to beat Western Sydney Wanderers away. With the Red and Black Bloc in their corner, Parramatta Stadium has become a formidable trip for all A-League clubs. Also, it was Wellington. Second to last on the table, without their star striker Paul Ifill and playmaker Carlos Hernandez, this should have been bread-and-butter stuff for Tony Popovic's men. Could it be down to the New Year’s Day hangover? As fun as it is to bring in the new year mincing around the dance floor at the Roxy Hotel in Parramatta, the after-effects seemed to take their toll as the Wanderers vagued out after going ahead early in the second half. Ernie Merrick's introduction of Tyler Boyd after the Phoenix went down a goal proved a masterstroke, as the young attacker with the Justin Bieber-quiff scored just moments after coming off the bench. It was Stein Huysegems, however, who made all the difference for the third week in a row, setting up Boyd's goal before scoring two of his own in quick succession. The upset puts Wellington in touching distance of the top six, while the Wanderers will want to steady the death-wobbles next weekend in the Sydney derby.

FFA sets a precedent

And so it has come to this. Following reports that FFA would punish clubs for fans behaving badly, on Friday the governing body handed Western Sydney Wanderers and Melbourne Victory a suspended sentence. Any further misdemeanours from either set of fans this season and three points will be deducted. It wasn't a popular decision, particularly since the worst of the trouble on 28 December came away from the stadium. However, for now it's just a warning, and it looks to be mainly a PR statement from FFA. David Gallop and Damien De Bohun went to great lengths to defend the 'true' fans, channeling Richard Nixon's 'Silent Majority' rhetoric. "I have great sympathy for the overwhelming majority of fans who are sickened by the misconduct of a few," said Gallop, "but it's time to make the consequences clear to everyone."

A precedent has now been set. FFA will decide which supporters are welcome, and the circumstances in which they support. Though what constitutes bad behaviour remains a little murky. For example, FFA's Spectator Code of Conduct still has peculiar rules about what kind of banners and symbols can be displayed at grounds, but they have not been policed since the Eureka debacle of 2008 . To what extent does the fine print matter? What constitutes misbehaviour? What's to stop a rival fan dressing up in Wanderers gear and starting trouble in order to trigger the points deduction? Perhaps collective punishment will encourage more active supporter groups to self-police, but don't hold your breath. If the troublemakers are caught, however, a fitting punishment could be to lock them in a room with Wanderers coach Tony Popovic and Victory coach Kevin Muscat. Those guys don't like dropping points.

Sydney waste an opportunity

How did Sydney FC manage to botch this one? Sure, Adelaide hit form over the holiday season, and had home ground advantage. But they were also missing Jeronimo and Marcelo Carrusca through injury, and lost Sergio Cirio and Bruce Djite within half an hour as both players limped off hurt. Josep Gombau was robbed of his main attacking threats before half time. Moreover, while the Adelaide fans were right behind their team, that a section of fans were there to support the opposition's marquee player wouldn't have hurt Sydney's chances. Behind the goals, a posse of Juventus fans unfurled a pullover banner that read 'Welcome to Adelaide, Capitano'. Some may find this disconcerting, but it was hardly surprising considering Adelaide's large Italian population. Indeed, one of Adelaide's most successful football sides, Adelaide City, were born as 'Juventus' in 1946.

Considering the circumstances, Sydney were granted a great chance to begin the new year with a win. And after their 5-2 pasting at the hands of Brisbane last weekend, a fresh start was just what they needed. However, after playing some good football in the first half and going ahead through a Ranko Despotovic goal, defensive errors once again cost them the lead. Fabio Ferreira's equaliser on 23 minutes was one of the classiest finishes you will see all season, although Sydney's defence was hopelessly out of position. While Frank Farina was left to rue some questionable refereeing, he was content with a point. But in truth, Corey Gameiro's late equaliser was a face-saver - the visitors should have done better.

A Brisbane masterclass

I don't like the term Roarcelona. Like the #wearefootball Twitter hashtag started by FFA and adopted by football fans across the country, it's cringeworthy enough to turn you inside out. The offending nickname caught on during Ange Postecoglou's reign at Brisbane Roar, as he became the first A-League coach to successfully turn possession based football into points on the table. But while Ange has long since departed, Roarcelona refuses to die. And on Saturday night against Melbourne Victory, it was clear to see why. There is plenty of shared history between the two – Mitch Nichols, Jason Geria, Kosta Barbarouses, Diogo 'Euro-house' Ferriera and Michael Theo have all spent time at both clubs – but with Don Postecoglou looking on from the stands at AAMI Park, Brisbane mercilessly tore apart the Victory. Brisbane have destroyed lesser opposition this season, however this was clinical.

All three goals were superb: the first finished by Liam Miller after a move that meandered from one side of the field to the other, the Brisbane players sharing the love as if they were listening to Black Uhuru and passing around illicit substances in a Fitzroy warehouse, not playing football in front of 23,121 boisterous fans in an inner-city football stadium. The second was more business-like – a training ground special comprising of three one-touch passes on the edge of the penalty box between Matt McKay, Henrique and Miller, before McKay finished off the move he started. The third was a dash of youthful exuberance, with Dimitri Petratos thrashing the ball home after Miller was again at the centre of the play. As Brisbane move seven points clear at the top of the table, with the new year we may have already found the new minor premiers.

Why even bother?

Well, that was depressing. Tepid atmosphere, listless football, no goals. Sunday afternoon's 0-0 draw between Central Coast Mariners and Melbourne Heart pipped Newcastle v Perth as the worst match of the round. Missing their two most creative players Michael McGlinchey and Marcos Flores, the defending champions struggled to keep the ball and create chances against the bottom placed Heart. Not that Heart were playing much better, however. The best thing you can say about them was that they were kind of like Brisbane Roar, but in slow motion and with all the good bits taken out. Many were hoping for the 'dead cat bounce' effect as players tried to impress incoming coach John van 't Schip, but it was more 'life-support-Heart-are-hooked-on-the-drip' from the visitors.

The first half, at least, was abysmal. Central Coast Mariners offered little going forward; there were the customary Michael Mifsud misses – the first one the worst – and the play soon resembled that Simpsons episode where the defenders pass the ball casually between each other with no intention of going forward. "Holds it... holds it... holds it." Happily, unlike the Simpsons, the boredom didn't lead to a soccer riot for Rebecca Wilson and the Daily Telegraph to get excited about, although you wouldn't have blamed the spectators for getting a little impatient. The second half continued the stream of unforced errors, while Josh Rose had his very own 'Mifsud' just after the hour mark. In an effort to liven up the miserable scenario, Van 't Schip and Phil Moss brought on strikers David Williams and Matt Simon, and for the first time ever, viewers were actually looking forward to the B-League – Fox Sports' terrible post-game show. As boos rang around Bluetongue Stadium after the final whistle, the seagulls at Heart's home ground, AAMI Park, threw themselves in front of trams, and Van 't Schip must have thought “what have I gotten myself into?”