Adelaide United returned to winning ways in the Hyundai A-League at Hindmarsh Stadium on 27 October, but their 3-1 victory over Wellington Phoenix was marred by some decidedly dubious decisions from those charged with getting such calls correct, not to mention a display of gamesmanship one is accustomed to seeing in South America, not South Australia! Almost all the incidents of note took place in the second half, which more than made up for the first forty-five minutes of tedium personified! Defences dominated, much to the disappointment of the 8,497 fans present, who first had reason to get excited in the 26th minute. That was after a cleared corner saw Manny Muscat switch play to Leo Bertos, who skipped round the challenge of the poorly performed Daniel Bowles before setting up Ben Sigmund for a twenty yard drive struck through a crowded goalmouth which Eugene Galekovic saw late and did well to turn round the post. Fifteen minutes later, Wellington silenced the home crowd by scoring the game's opening goal. Muscat was again the fulcrum, his pass to Paul Ifill inviting the visitors' talisman to set off on a brief run before lobbing the ball over the defence into the stride of Stein Huysegems. The Belgian calmly slipped through Adelaide's offside trap, neatly controlled the ball then despatched an unerring composed finish beyond Galekovic to break the deadlock in a match which the home team had enjoyed the better of, without ever threatening to score themselves. United nearly found themselves trailing by two goals on the stroke of half-time. Ifill was again the architect, this time taking on the defence with a tantalising cross-field run before slipping a slide-rule pass into the stride of the unmarked Jeremy Brockie, who battered a sizzling twenty-yarder across the face of goal, the ball only narrowly missing the far post. The second half was ten minutes old when, out of nothing, Adelaide equalised. The ball was cleared to Marcelo Carrusca, whose shot ricocheted off a defender and a team-mate before falling invitingly into the stride of Jeronimo Neumann, who wasted little time in thrashing home the leveller from the edge of the penalty area. Wellington immediately sought to regain the lead, and would have done so had Brockie's deft header, from a teasing Tony Lochhead cross, not been ruled out by the offside flag in the 59th minute. Eight minutes later, that very same offside flag was conspicuous by its absence as Adelaide brilliantly took the lead, albeit in decidedly controversial circumstances. Galekovic played the ball out to Cassio, who gathered the ball just inside his own half and set off downfield on a mesmerising sixty yard run, before playing a one-two with Neumann. The Argentinian was offside when the ball was played to him, but referee's assistant Curtis Wordsworth simply didn't see it, and kept his flag by his side. Wellington were already appealing for the call to be made when Neumann returned Cassio's pass into the Brazilian's stride, and he gleefully steered the ball home beyond Paston.

Fifteen minutes from time, the bounce of the ball prevented United from increasing their advantage. Cassio played the ball wide to substitute Fabio Ferreira, who got around Lochhead before delivering an inviting which had Sergio Van Dijk as its target. But he was deceived by a wicked bounce in the goalmouth, which allowed Wellington to clear their lines and launch a sparkling counter-attack featuring Muscat, Vince Lia and Ifill, who set up Benjamin Totori for a shot which crept inches past Galekovic's right-hand post. Cue the next moment of controversy in the match, one which prompted post-match comments which implied that the officials were allegedly incompetent. Galekovic's clearance downfield was flicked on by substitute Bruce Djite for Neumann to pursue. Sigmund, who was running alongside the striker, made an instinctive grab for Neumann's arm, but only brushed against it. It certainly wasn't enough contact to prompt Neumann to fall to the floor two strides later, when it became obvious that the advancing figure of Paston would get to the ball before the striker. Referee Jarred Gillett immediately blew his whistle, reached for his pocket and pulled out the red card, brandishing it at Sigmund. If you thought Wellington were livid after Adelaide took the lead, this time they were fair seething, both at the match official's misjudgement and, more pertinently, at the dishonest actions of Neumann, whose Swan Lake special saw an opponent wrongly dismissed. Little wonder Wellington captain Andrew Durante, in his immediate post-match comments, didn't hesitate to use the word "cheat" when opining on Neumann's contribution to the outcome of the game. Nothing like a bit of brutal honesty on live TV to stir the passions, eh? After the on-field furore following the dismissal had died down, there was a free-kick to be taken, a twenty yard effort from Carrusca which Paston fielded comfortably. He also smothered a stoppage time effort from Neumann after he had been released by Djite's through ball. But the Argentine had made the game safe for Adelaide five minutes beforehand, the villain of the piece - at least in previously unbeaten Wellington's eyes - rubbing salt in the wounds in the process. Totori was caught in possession, with Dario Vidosic darting downfield before slipping a pass into the stride of Neumann, who slotted home the final goal in Adelaide's 3-1 win which propelled them back to the top of the table. Adelaide:     Galekovic; Fyfe, Golec (booked, 11), Bowles, Cassio (booked, 79); Vidosic, Malik (booked, 87) (Watson, 89), Carrusca, Ramsay (Ferreira, 64); Van Dijk (Djite, 76), Neumann (booked, 60) Wellington:     Paston; Bertos, Sigmund (sent off, 77), Durante (booked, 86), Lochhead; Fenton (booked, 16) (Totori, 64), Muscat, Smith (Lia, 52), Ifill; Brockie (booked, 90), Huysegems (Boyd, 74) Referee:     Jarred Gillett