Adelaide United have returned to the summit of the Hyundai A-League once again on November 20, but they made hard work of doing so at Hindmarsh Stadium, where they edged past bottom-placed New Zealand Knights by virtue of a solitary Qu Shengqing goal just before half-time. Had this been a boxing match, the referee would have called the bout off long before the ninety minutes had elapsed, so overwhelmingly superior were the table-topping team. But their profligate finishing, coupled with the dogged resistance of the cellar-dwellers, meant that in the last ten minutes, the visitors had opportunities to score what would have been a decidedly undeserved equaliser. Yet the Knights were barely seen as an attacking force in the first half, the only time they looked like even threatening to score in the first forty-five minutes coming exactly half-way through the half, when United goalkeeper Robert Bajic anticipated an opening which Sean Devine was looking to exploit, following a Richie Alagich error. Alagich, along with Carl Veart, was in fine form for the home team, who set about their task methodically. After Matthew Kemp had warmed Danny Milosevic's gloves with a long-range effort which saw the shooter strain his groin in letting fly, Adelaide produced a delightful interchange of passes in the fourth minute from which they were denied a goal by desperate defending. Lucas Pantelis played the ball into the path of the charging Fernando Rech, whose slick one-two with Qu presented the striker with a shooting chance. He took it, but Milosevic parried the ball, and as Rech followed up, Frank Van Eijs appeared on the scene to prevent him turning home the rebound. The danger wasn't over for the Knights, however, as Pantelis picked up the loose ball before working an opening with Veart. Darren Bazeley blocked this shot to safety, a feat he was to repeat on numerous occasions throughout proceedings. Adelaide enjoyed a wealth of possession, but failed to make the most of it. Michael Valkanis headed a Qu corner to the near post over the bar, rather than under it, while in the 23rd minute, Alagich released Travis Dodd down the right at pace. He got to the byline before pulling the ball back, but his intended target, Rech, was prevented from making the most of the opportunity by a subtle piece of defending from Danny Hay - the Knights captain left his calling card on the Brazilian goal grabber, who was soon in action once more, only to find Joshua Rose intervening to prevent him from scoring. Just before the half-hour mark, Adelaide came desperately close to opening the scoring. Dodd and Alagich combined with a splendid one-two down the right, with the former supplying a low cross intended for Rech. Bazeley had other ideas, however, and the 9,676 locals groaned in unison as another opportunity went begging. After Qu had warmed the gloves of the oft-inactive figure of Milosevic with a shot on the turn, the former Chinese international opened the scoring in fine fashion, seven minutes before the break. It was a great move, sparked by Veart with a raking crossfield ball to release the overlapping figure of Dodd down the right. He got in behind Van Eijs and clipped a delightfully weighted cross to the far post, where the unmarked figure of Qu rose to ram home the header. The goal was no more than Adelaide's dominance deserved. Indeed, they already merited a far greater lead, but they proved themselves their own worst enemies on that score. It wasn't for the want of trying, mind. Such as in the 41st minute, when some fine anticipation by Milosevic thwarted an enterprising interchange which featured Ross Aloisi, Rech and Qu. Two minutes later, Veart picked out Pantelis with a peach of a pass, the wide man getting to the byline before firing over a deep cross beyond the far post. Qu headed the ball across goal for Rech, who directed his header wide of the mark. The second spell saw more of the same - Adelaide

pounding away, although at least the Knights fronted as an attacking unit in this half! Indeed, Jeremy Brockie set the tone with a strong run into the area past four players five minutes after the resumption. Angelo Costanzo intervened, and there endeth that particular initiative! Normal service, i.e. Adelaide raids, resumed soon afterwards. A magic penalty area to penalty area move, featuring the contributions of Costanzo, Alagich, Dodd, Rech, Veart and Aloisi only foundered on a vital tackle by Hay in the 54th minute. Two minutes on, Bazeley headed a Pantelis free-kick out to the edge of the area, where Aloisi was lurking. His shot took a deflection, and sat up perfectly for Veart, who somehow fired wide when scoring appeared the easier option. Then a marvellous diving header from Pantelis, picked out by a deceptive Alagich cross, saw the midfielder's effort directed straight at Milosevic - a foot either side, and the 'keeper was beaten! It was getting to be one of those sorts of games for United, where, try as they might, the ball just wouldn't seem to go exactly where intended! Sure enough, more examples followed. Veart and Pantelis combined yet again, with the latter turning Brockie in so many directions that he had to be substituted soon afterwards to untangle his dreadlocks!! The midfielder's cross found Dodd arriving on the far post, only for his header to fly wide. Then an error by Van Eijs was pounced on by Qu, who unselfishly slipped in Pantelis to his left. But Milosevic's anticipation was again to the fore, and yet again, Adelaide were rueing their misfortune in front of goal. After Qu got his bearings all wrong following a neat interchange featuring Pantelis, Veart and Rech, the Knights fired their first shot on target in the match - substitute Xiaobin Zhang had the honour in the 71st minute. Still Adelaide pounded away, with Milosevic tipping an eighteen-yard screamer from Aloisi to safety after Alagich's long throw-in hadn't been cleared, while from the resulting corner, Pantelis' cross picked out Rech, whose powerful close-range header crashed against the crossbar. Buoyed by Zhang's lead, however, the Knights, well aware that they were just a goal away from a highly unlikely point, applied some concerted pressure of their own. Noah Hickey directed a bicycle kick at Bajic, who, in the 83rd minute, produced what was, without question, the save of the match. Steve Fitzsimmons' long throw-in was flicked on by Hay to the far post. Devine was lurking unmarked, and smashed a close-range volley at the target. But at point blank range, Bajic battered the effort away with a purely reflex save. Seconds later, another delivery from Fitzsimmons, this time a free-kick, found Zhang unmarked beyond the far post. He skied his header, when a flick back across goal would have left Devine with the target at his mercy. Back came Adelaide, with Bazeley stepping in to thwart the charging run of Louis Brain. Dodd then sent another header across the face of goal before, in stoppage time, an interception by Dodd saw him cross to Rech, who lashed a thunderous drive goalwards. Milosevic pawed this to safety, thereby ensuring the Knights would only suffer a 1-0 defeat at the hands of the outright league leaders, who should have won this match by a margin which more accurately reflected their dominance of proceedings. Adelaide:     Bajic; Alagich, Costanzo, Valkanis, Van Dommele (booked, 45); Kemp (Dodd, 8), Veart, Aloisi (Brain, 78), Pantelis; Rech, Qu NZ Knights:     Milosevic; Hay, Bazeley, Van Eijs (booked, 32); Brockie (booked, 55) (Maguire, 78), Devine, Caravella, Collett, Rose (Fitzsimmons, 60); Bright (booked, 35) (Zhang, 67), Hickey Referee:     Angelo Nardi