A-League: North Queensland 1 Brisbane 2

Brisbane Roar have shown no mercy to wooden spoon certainties North Queensland, beating the Fury 2-1 at Skilled Park on Tuesday.

Rescheduled and moved to the Gold Coast after Cyclone Yasi rendered North Queensland’s Dairy Farmers Stadium in Townsville unusable, the match was effectively a dead rubber between the newly-crowned champions of the A-League and a side anchored to the bottom of the table and battling to avoid a seventh-straight defeat.

But both teams played with heart and intent, and goals to Brisbane’s Mitch Nichols and Henrique and a freak strike from Fury fullback Andre Killian ensured the 1003 fans on hand to watch a game on neutral territory went home entertained.

It took just 14 minutes for the Roar to open proceedings through Mitch Nichols, set up by in-form youngster James Meyer at the top of the box.

The midfielder’s first shot was blocked but the scraps fell to him again and he followed up with a fierce volley that flew into the back of the net.

Despite their uncertain future and a guaranteed wooden spoon, the Fury made a fist of things and took the game to Brisbane by engineering their fair share of chances.

In the 27th minute, defender Simon Storey danced past two orange shirts before launching a powerful shot from distance, though Roar goalkeeper Michael Theoklitos had it covered.

Nichols should have had his brace 10 minutes later when Matt McKay fed him the perfect ball for a shot, but he elected to play a pass across the goal and it was easily dealt with by the Fury defence.

Kosta Barbarouses went close in the opening stages of the second half after running half the field on the counter attack to go one-on-one with Fury goalkeeper Justin Pasfield, but defender Mark Hughes saved the day and chased him down with an inch-perfect tackle that robbed the Roar of a certain goal.

But the Roar’s second goal did come in the 58th minute through some terrific one-touch trickery from Ange Postecoglou’s men, with Thomas Broich, Barbarouses and Henrique all linking together to toy with the North Queensland rearguard.

From the edge of the box, Broich played in Barbarouses with a lob that was expertly flicked onto Henrique, and the Brazilian laid on a deft touch to chip the ball over Pasfield to double his side’s advantage.

That 2-0 lead did not last long, with North Queensland finally getting on the end of some good fortune as Andre Killian’s cross from the left was driven straight into Milan Susak and deflected over a helpless Theoklitos in the 65th minute for a spectacular albeit unintentional goal.

Franz Straka’s men continued to press forward in search of an unlikely equaliser but the Roar held on for a win that stretches their undefeated streak to 24 games, with Saturday night’s M1 derby against Gold Coast United set for a night of celebration with the return to Suncorp Stadium and the presentation of the Premier’s Plate.

North Queensland will fly across the Tasman for their final match of the season against Wellington on Sunday, and with rumours about their precarious financial situation continuing to mount it may well be their last in the A-League.