A second-half header from Travis Dodd gave Adelaide United a 2-1 win over rivals Melbourne Victory at Adelaide Oval on Friday night.
After Paul Reid had given the hosts an early lead, Archie Thompson responded midway through the second half with his first goal after a seven-week stint on the sidelines which levelled proceedings until Dodd’s late intervention.
Victory made no change to their starting side but had Archie Thompson and Carlos Hernandez back on the bench while Adelaide coach Rini Coolen made three changes, with Andwele Slory, Matthew Leckie and Adam Hughes starting in place of injured duo Sergio van Dyk and Cassio, and the dropped Iain Ramsay.
The match burst into life after just five minutes when Reid’s free-kick from the left crept in at the far post.
Although the free-kick that led to the goal was a fraction questionable, there was nothing wrong with the goal as Reid’s ball fizzed across the face and beat the likes of Dodd, Marcos Flores, and tellingly, Michael Petkovic.
Reid took another free-kick three minutes later from an almost identical position but this time Petkovic charged off his line and caught the ball at the second attempt.
Adelaide were well on top in the early stages and nearly made it two when a delightful ball from Reid found Slory but the lively forward could not compose himself and lost his footing, slipping and falling into Petkovic and leaving the Melbourne goalkeeper worse for wear.
At first glance it looked like it could have been a penalty and the Adelaide Oval crowd were screaming for one, but replays showed referee Ryan Shepheard made the right call.
Ernie Merrick’s side fought back though and Marvin Angulo began to impress, with his free-kick deflected over before the Costa Rican international shot straight at Galekovic and Danny Allsopp headed over in a strong 10-minute spell for the Victory.
The pace of the game began to take its toll when Slory departed with a calf injury, to be replaced by Ramsay, while Robbie Kruse required attention to a cut head.
Adelaide nearly scored on the stroke of half-time, after a terrific move involved the likes of Leckie, Flores and Ramsay but Reid could not double his account and fired just wide.
Dodd had two opportunities in the first five minutes of the second half to score but wasted both while Roddy Vargas made a crucial intervention to turn Reid’s cut-back onto the post and away to safety.
But after 63 minutes, Victory scored a deserved equaliser.
In just his second game for the club, Adelaide’s Dario Bodrusic failed to clear his lines and saw the ball stolen off him by Allsopp, who quickly cut the ball back for Thompson who produced a typically stylish finish.
The goal highlighted the strength of the Allsopp and Thompson partnership, re-united once again, but just 11 minutes later Adelaide regained the lead.
A free-kick from Ramsay floated in from the left and Dodd rose unmarked, to perfectly place his header just inside the right post and delight the home fans.
The Victory nearly mustered a late equaliser, with Hernandez’s strike from distance taking a wicked deflection of Nigel Boogaard and onto the post, but their best efforts were in vain as Adelaide celebrated their second win in succession against a team who had haunted them so much in recent seasons.
