Heat may have contributed to Brisbane Roar's defeat
BRISBANE Roar's hot run at Bluetongue Stadium came to an end yesterday.
The Queenslanders had never been beaten at Gosford since the A-League's conception in 2005.
But they fell to a 2-1 defeat to the second-placed side, which won 2-1 on an afternoon when temperatures reached 37C.
Bernie Ibini opened the scoring for the home side in just the fourth minute, the young striker heading a wonderful cross from Pedj Bojic in at the far post.
The heat seemed to get to Besart Berisha when he was booked for a poor challenge for which he was shown a yellow card.
Mariners striker Daniel McBreen was also shown yellow for the ugly melee which followed, after running half the length of the pitch to remonstrate with the Albanian.
Berisha, himself might have been lucky to escape with just concussion after remonstrating with a number of Mariners players and referee Chris Beath.
The oppressive conditions began to take their toll after the break as both sides struggled to create chances in front of goal.
The Mariners looked the more dangerous, however, and they eventually broke the deadlock when TomasRogic scored in the 81st minute.
The defending champions had a couple of late chances to find an equaliser but it wasn't to be their afternoon as the Mariners held on for the three points.
