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Cahill boo-boys cop it on Twitter in A-League Round 2

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A-League Round 2 twitter chat

QUEENSLAND media outlets were tipping a big crowd for Brisbane Roar’s A-League clash with Adelaide United on Friday night.

Only 11,000 or so turned out for the opening game of round two, but it looked for much of the night as though most of them would be heading home happy.

Italian import Massimo Maccarone got off the mark eight minutes in, and it stayed that way until the eves of the final whistle.

Then disaster struck for the home side as United goaled not once, but twice in the dying minutes to steal all three points.

Observers were not impressed with the Roar’s defensive approach, nor with the body art on Adelaide’s Daniel Adlung.

Central Coast Mariners headed to Western Sydney on Saturday as rank outsiders after shipping five goals to Newcastle Jets.

The Wanderers opened their season with a confident win over Perth Glory, so predictions of a routine win for the hosts seemed well justified.

The reality was very different, however, as the Mariners twice breached the WSW defence to take the lead.

They were pegged back on both occasions, but a 2-2 draw can only go down as a significant step in the right direction for Paul Okon’s men.

The undisputed clash of the round was again at the Docklands, where Victory and City came together for another gripping edition of the Melbourne derby.

Both sides had some big names back in action, none bigger than Timmy Cahill fresh off a heroic display for the Socceroos in World Cup qualifying.

The City superstar may have drawn the bulk of public attention, not least from the Victory supporters, but it was Poland’s Marcin Budzinksi who took centre stage with a stunning opener on the stroke of half-time.

The home side hit back through Leroy George after the break, but City’s lead was soon restored as the in-form Bruce Kamau finished off a lightning counterattack in style.

Having put their wooden spoon defence in serious doubt with a dominant win over Central Coast on matchday one, Newcastle played host to a Perth side that was well tamed by Wanderers a week prior.

The Glory’s highly rated offence soon sprung to life, however, as Adam Taggart struck inside eight minutes to silence a bustling crowd at McDonald Jones Stadium.

Roy O’Donovan boosted his A-League Golden Boot chances further with an equaliser on the half-hour mark, and it looked as though the Jets were soaring to victory when Ben Kantarovski added a second goal with 30 minutes remaining.

Taggart was having none of that, completing his brace in injury time to give Perth their first point of the season.

Round two closed with what was supposed to be a formality for Sydney FC.

Things were on script early as goals from Bobo and Michael Zullo gave the champions a 2-0 lead inside 35 minutes, but Wellington Phoenix had other ideas.

A timely reply from Andrija Kaluderovic put the Kiwis back in the game at the break before a second from Bobo made it 3-1 to the Sky Blues.

Wellington’s Dario Vidosic pegged it back again to set up a nervy finish, but Sydney held on to maintain their unbeaten start.

While Phoenix fans fumed at a controversial offside decision that cost them a game-changing goal, others were more interested in the Cove’s technological solution for the lack of bums on seats.

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