A quick round is a good round, yet with just four games making up Round 4 of the A-League Women, there was still plenty to talk about.
Let's take a look at whose stocks went up, plummeted down, and what there is to look forward to in Round 5.
Stocks up: Brisbane, Wellington, Canberra break their droughts
Now, I'm not saying I'm an all-seeing, all-knowing football deity, but my column last week did flag that the clubs who hadn't won a game in their opening three had a chance to shine in this unusually short round.
And boy, did they ever.
Three of the league's five winless teams snatched all three points this week, starting with Wellington Phoenix who edged past an improving Adelaide United side with a 2-0 win on Saturday.
A first club goal to Matildas veteran Tameka Yallop in the 15th minute was just reward for a dominant start from the Phoenix, with a neat pass from Brooke Nunn finding Makala Woods (back from that ankle knock last week), who laid off for Yallop near the penalty spot to sweep into the roof of the net. The visiting side looked far more confident and deliberate going forward, with Woods posing an ever-present threat at the point of the spear and helping win a number of corners, free kicks, and leading counter-attacks that they could have capitalised on.
Adelaide, by contrast, were wasteful when it mattered. Kiera Meyers had a glorious one-on-one opportunity in the 25th minute after zipping in behind Wellington's defence, but had her direct shot clang into debut goalkeeper Brooke Neary's leg. Lara Gooch found the ball suddenly at her feet after a poor defensive clearance ricocheted right to her in the 51st minute, but in her panic, rocketed her shot straight at the keeper.
A Paige Zois free kick, carried by a swirling wind, cracked off the far post just before the hour, while Adriana Taranto redirected a Tessa Salvestrin cross off the other post soon afterwards. They'd rue those missed chances when substitute winger Indiah-Paige Riley scored Wellington's second in the 88th minute.
While Wellington's win felt like only a matter of time, Brisbane Roar's 2-0 defeat of Melbourne Victory came seemingly out of nowhere.
A dogged defensive display allowed two of the Roar's key players to shine, with star international signing Murphy Agnew scoring a sensational half-field solo goal in the 36th minute by simply running straight through Melbourne's flimsy midfield, while former Victory striker Maja Markovski made it two in stoppage time of the first half after beating Claudia Bunge to an Agnew cross and redirecting the header into the far bottom corner.
Victory tried to battle back in the second half, and created a few more chances when Nikki Flannery came on, but Brisbane did well to shut down both Holly Furphy and Sophie Harding, while midfielder Sienna Saveska was largely ineffective. Indeed, they dominated every single attacking stat by full-time, from shots (23 to 7) to final third entries (75 to 53) to touches in the opposition box (20 to 6) to expected goals (1.86 to 0.37). And yet they still couldn't find a way through.
And for Canberra United, their surprise 1-0 win over second-placed Perth Glory was a fun repeat of history: the last time United travelled to play at HBF Park was when they faced the Glory in the 2014 W-League Grand Final... which they also won.
A brilliant -- if lucky -- goal from new signing Emily Condon, who pounced on a defensive error to clip a delightful ball in between two players and back to herself before finishing neatly into the bottom corner, was one of the few chances Canberra had all game. As has been the trend so far this season, striker Michelle Heyman spent most of the match chasing long or inaccurate passes, while most of the creative play came from fullback-turned-winger Sasha Grove, making their win all the more remarkable.
Stocks down: Do the Mariners have a weakness, after all?
You may be surprised to learn that in the entire history of the F3 Derby -- the match between the Central Coast Mariners and the Newcastle Jets -- there has never been a draw.
Until this weekend, when the bottom-of-the-table Jets somehow pushed the ladder-leading Mariners to their limits, snatching a 1-1 draw in a dramatic game that both teams could have won by two or more goals each.
With Central Coast flying out of the gates this season, it was perhaps expected that they'd easily roll over a Newcastle team that has looked rusty and disjointed so far. And that is how the first half largely unfolded: Skye Halmarick opened the scoring in just the fifth minute, pouncing on a deflected cross to score her second goal -- and her team's 12th -- of the season. As in the past three games, both Peta Trimis and Talia Kapetanellis were threatening from either wing, as was the tireless Danika Matos bombing on, Ellie Carpenter-esque, at right fullback.
However, Newcastle's shining light all game was Claire Adams, the tricky midfielder who was seemingly given more license to attack, and latched onto three terrific crosses from winger Cameron Valledales, but sending each volley wide or over the crossbar. Mariners goalkeeper Morgan Aquino was living a charmed life as she tried to bait midfielder Emma Dundas with the ball at her feet, only for the Jets player to poke the ball out of her hands and almost squeeze it into an empty net, were it not for Aquino falling onto the ball in a panic.
Halmarick should have been awarded a penalty just after halftime when she was bundled over by Alex Klos in the box, in yet another major missed call from the officials that is becoming a noticeable trend this season. Newcastle responded to this dodged bullet by increasing the pressure on the Mariners, speeding up their press and being more direct with their forward passes, with Adams once again finding herself one-on-one with Aquino in the box in the 67th minute, only for defender Rebecca Lake to make a last-ditch sliding tackle to take the ball away from danger.
Three minutes later, the Jets would have their equaliser after former Mariners youngster Tamar Levin, who'd offered a growing amount of creativity from the left, cut inside and curled a gorgeous strike into the far top corner. The home side responded with a barrage of quick chances, including a half-field lobbed effort from Halmarick that skidded just wide, while a sensational cross from Trimis met substitute Morgan Witz at the back post, but she shinned the ball over the crossbar.
But it was Newcastle who had the chance to win it all when Allie Thornton squared a pass to the onrushing Emma Dundas, who didn't realise she had acres of space around her near the penalty spot, and skied it into the stands behind the goal. Levin, too, had a moment in stoppage time when a corner spun to her near the top of the box, only for her laces to send it out into the rain.
Both teams will be mad not to have capitalised on the wealth of chances they created, with the Mariners likely also slightly relieved at having escaped what could have been an embarrassing loss to the team that still sits dead last on the ladder.
Moment of the weekend: You make your own luck
We couldn't mention Condon's first goal for Canberra United without showing you just how much skill and audacity was involved. Enjoy.
The week ahead: An early top of the table clash
With both teams coming off their first dropped points of the season, the Mariners and Perth will be hungry to get their seasons back on track as they face each other in what is already shaping to be the best game of Round 5.
The Glory travel to Gosford next Saturday to take on the leaders, with just three points currently separating them, and while the jetlag may play a role, their fury at losing to a fairly disorganised Canberra United this week may be the thing that ignites them.
Central Coast, meanwhile, escaped with their hat after a late Newcastle surge, and will want to rediscover the free-flowing, dynamic football that has shot them to the top of the league so early this season.
Melbourne City, meanwhile, return to A-League action after their hectic AFC Women's Champions League group stage in Uzbekistan, in which they finished second to qualify in a seeded slot for the quarterfinals in late March.
They face a confident Jets team at home on Saturday, too, and while on paper it looks like it'll be a one-way affair, the team's own travels -- having flown thousands of kilometres and played three games in the past 10 days -- combined with Newcastle's momentum coming out of that Mariners draw, could throw up yet another surprise result.
Sydney FC are back after their bye, as well, and travel to Wellington to face a Phoenix side that's starting to look like the one they promised to be in preseason. Both teams are coming off their first wins of the campaign, and are even equal on points on the ladder (4), with the home side just scraping into sixth on goal difference. But with an extra week's rest in their legs and the hopeful return of a few key senior players from injury, the Sky Blues could very well make it two from two.
In case you missed it
- A-League Men Stocks: Is this the season Touré finally fulfils his promise?
- The Far Post: Is Ellie Carpenter the best right back in the world?
- Liverpool's Barcola, Isak, Wirtz show signs they're finally starting to click
- Man United's poor starts have Premier League relegation looking more likely