Brisbane has moved to outright leader on the W-League table following an entertaining 1-1 draw with Sydney FC at a wet SFS on Sunday.
Cathrine Paaske’s terrific 34-minute solo for Sydney was cancelled out by own goal a minute after the break.
The Roar eases to 10 points on the table, a point clear of Central Coast.
Sydney leapfrogs Melbourne to join Perth in equal third.
The match was in some doubt after heavy rain hit Sydney in the hours before kick-off.
The showers cleared to allow a start but the pitch remained greasy, making a crisp passing game difficult.
The first chance of the match fell to Brisbane’s Courtney Beutel, who dragged her shot wide after five minutes.
A neat exchange of passes between Julie Rydahl and Paaske opened up the Roar defence on 11 minutes, with goalkeeper Casey Dumont called on to block out the danger.
Dumont’s opposite, Nikola Deiter, was in the action for the first time after 29 minutes, bravely coming off her line to collect a lofted free kick from Kate McShea.
Paaske’s goal five minutes later was worth the wait.
She brought the ball under control on the edge of the box, skipped past one defender and rode Clare Polkinghorne’s tackle before sliding the ball under Dumont for a brilliant individual goal.
It was worthy of a winner but just one minute into the second half Brisbane was back on equal terms, courtesy of an own goal.
Sydney defender Danielle Brogan was the first to meet an innocuous cross but flashed her header past the stranded Deiter.
The visitors should have taken the lead five minutes later, Beutel muffing a gilt-edged chance with just the keeper to beat.
Lana Harch also had the opportunity to grab all three points on 66 minutes but watched in disbelief as her goal-bound shot was cleared off the line by Heather Garriock.
The misses proved costly, Sydney FC holding on to grab a point and ending Brisbane’s three-match winning streak.
Sydney FC 1
(Paaske 34m)
Brisbane 1
(og 46m)
