The cameras catch an absolutely crest-fallen John Aloisi as he slinks off the pitch. Spare a thought for the Roar coaching and playing staff. How would they be feeling?

It’s a record-equalling goal haul for an A-League game; let alone a finals match.

You’d be gutted if you gave up a ticket to that tonight; a full-house at Parramatta stadium; it’s last chance to host the Wanderers before extensive refurnishing/rebuilding.

Well, take the time to walk outside and suck in some cool, clear air for a second, because that was just baffling at times, sublime at others. That’s all from me, for now.

Thanks for your company tonight during this eventful semi-final; apologies we couldn’t include more tweets and emails, but the action itself was just too unrelenting!

Some emails flying in now, mainly just Wanderers fans screaming in incoherent all-caps.

What a relief; what a comeback – who saw this after 20 minutes!!

Caps off to this entire Western Sydney Wanderers squad and coaching staff; how many teams do you know could come back from 3-0 down, in a semi-final!!

120 min: Bridge almost gets through one-on-one; it’s all up the Wanderers end though; this isn’t what Brisbane fans want!

A tired foul and the Wanderers eat the seconds. Is this it?

118 min: Brisbane need something – but they’re absolutely shattered!

Surely there’s too much experience out there for the Wanderers to allow them back in.

Hervas and McKay combine, but the latter is dead on his feet. It goes for another goal kick, and Wanderers make no attempt to hurry the restart.

115 min: Hervas wrestles with Cole, Brisbane with it inside the Wanderers’ half. Bridge still harrying and hurrying from the front, what a remarkable engine this kid must have!

Cole draws a foul from Hervas, they’re having a real battle in the middle.

Jamieson turns over cheaply, and Oar looks to exploit the space behind him. He gets past him, but just runs out of space. Goal kick.

112 min: Overlap down the right here, Oar again prominent. Brown almost fashions a shooting chance.

It falls to Hervas just outside the box – but he dollies it harmlessly over the bar! He’s a left-footer but that one of the right never looked pretty. Devastating for Roar fans.

Baccus comes on for Wanderers, it’s Andreu who makes way. A nerve-settler this, but also a hint of injury for the Spaniard.

110 min: McKay looks to urge his side forward. Brown goes down with cramp; the left back’s been shot by a sniper, but there’s no more subs on the Brisbane bench.

Oar, puts the head down and wins a free-kick off Jamieson. But before I can even look up, it seems the chance has gone. The Roar must have taken it quickly – surely that’s a moment for another Corona deadball? Bizarre.

107 min: Some incredibly tired bodies now, it’s all about the relatively fresher substitutes here. Cole and Hervas lock horns, before Wanderers try to stamp control on it again.

Some very easy turnovers here. Hard to see where the spark will come from for the Roar – they need Oar and Henrique to find the ball.

102 min: It flies centrally and a Roar player climbs high.. but it’s comfortably dealt with by Redmayne.

Now we’ve gone the full length of the field, and it’s Wanderers on the attack again.. wait for it, wait for it:

101 min: Oar and Henrique now combine, and they find Maclaren. He attempts a cheeky dink, but he draws a corner.

Corona with a corner. What do you reckon Popovic is feeling ahead of this set piece?

99 min: Some good interplay between Castelen and Bridge sees Neville wide and free, he whips a wonderful ball across the face, but a sliding Cole can’t reach it at the far post!

What a moment that was, just gamble, son, and it’s yours!

98 min: North and Vidosic in an arm-wrestle; the crowd bays for a foul, or card for the veteran defender.

Moments later it’s Vidosic again, twisting and turning inside the box; but again, it’s that man North who snuffs out the attack! What a tight rope he’s walking, the veteran, but so far he’s performing a brilliant role for his side.

96 min: A couple of players starting to flag here; there’s definitely opportunities out there for some of the fresher players. Don’t forget the Wanderers have the benefit of the extra week off, having finished second on the table, and avoided the elimination finals.

94 min: Yikes! A real scare there, the ball crosses inside the Brisbane six yard box, with Young pinned behind a body, but three Wanderers all there to nod home! The referee intervenes, Cole penalised for obstructing the ‘keeper.

92 min: Great work from Vidosic, he finds Bridge at the far post with an excellent leap and header, but Young saves well!

We’ve seen the effect Oar and friends has had coming on for the Roar, how important can the Wanderers substitutes prove?

Shannon Cole has been injured for some time, but what experience, a Asian Champions League medallist and foundation player, to throw into the mix. Very confident lad, also writes sci-fi comics in his spare time, didn’t you know.

93 min: Corona’s free-kick finds compatriot Hervas.. but his header lofts over the top!

92 min: Foul by Dimas and it’s a set piece to Corona. He’s been brilliant from the dead ball tonight – surely he won’t conjure one more piece of magic?

90 min: There’s four minutes of extra-time to come; but should it finish as it currently stands, remarkably we’ll see another thirty minutes.

Surely this isn’t going to penalties, is it? What a nightmare.

89 min: Some tired touches coming in, some mis-controls and some aimless headers creeping in. Castelen goes for the spectacular from a long way out, but for seemingly the first time tonight, that one was not even close. Balloons about forty rows deep.

87 min: Some drawn faces in the crowd; you’d absolutely hate to lose this one from here, wouldn’t you?

20,084 inside the stadium – that’s officially a record at Parramatta stadium. You’d tell your kids you were there, wouldn’t you, if you witnessed this one.

Here’s Neville down the right flank, but Corona heads clear.

85 min: What are the odds of thirty more minutes? Could these sides survive that? Could you? I know I’ll be going through the cupboards at work to raid somebody’s ventolin..

And here’s a fun fact: Andrew Redmayne has just made his first save of the game; despite being better four times already! Who’d be a goalkeeper.

82 min: Suddenly it’s the Roar with momentum – they besiege the Wanderers’ box, with Hervas attempting the spectacular with a bicycle, but fails to connect.

They’re on the counter again, it’s the fresh legs of Oar, Hervas and Henrique combining to probe and pry their way through.

78 min: It’s Santalab to make way, perhaps the yellow card he’d picked up earlier a factor in this decision. Bridge will presumably shift to the head of the front three, with Vidosic to slide in wide left.

77 min: Popovic goes to the bench for the first time, it’s Vidosic to come on - but who for? Surely not Castelen, he’s been on absolute fire today.

75 min: Henrique picks out Tommy Oar, who looks to jink inside on his dangerous left foot. He can’t fashion an opening so lays off to Brown, who flashes a driven effort over the crossbar. A nice patch for the Roar.

72 min: And if this game needed any more excitement, on comes Tommy Oar! Borrello makes way; what can the former Ipswich player and Socceroo bring to this Roar side over the next twenty or so minutes?!

He whips in a dangerous cross, but is then accused of over-exhuberance in fouling Jamieson.

71 min: Lovely work from Jamieson finds Bridge, who mazes inside the box; he looks to get past North, but the whistle blows!

A bobbling ball is adjudged to have struck the strikers arm, but gee, that looks like it could have gone either way!

69 min: Brisbane enjoying a spell of possession here, but they’ve invited pressure on themselves; attempting to play out from the very back, and Young and Donachie almost concede another! It goes for a corner instead, and the remonstrations begin among the Brisbane defence.

The Roar hang on, with the lofted far post cross unable to be controlled.

67 min: Corona attempts an incisive pass; we haven’t seen much of the Brisbane playmaker, the Roar need his experience and cool-head over the ball if they’re to find a path back into this match.

65 min: A ripple of excitement there, Castelen grappling with Brown inside the Roar box; but the foul goes against the striker. Many were hoping for a penalty, but that would have been incredibly harsh on Brisbane.

Once again; there’s the bizarre feeling that a lull has fallen over the game. Not necessarily in comparison to other games, but after the remarkable rollercoaster ride of highs and lows we’ve seen today, you can forgive a few moments of respite.

63 min: Time to witness this fabled Brisbane Roar belief – Aloisi spoke of it before the game; it’s no coincidence they win so many games late; but do they have the ticker for this fight?

North gets a stern talking to from Peter Green; he’s already been cautioned, and he’s gone through the back of a Wanderer there. Last thing the Roar need is ten men.

60 min: It’s Nichols down the right flank now; his cross finds Bridge in a promising area, but his touch sees him wide, and the danger is avoided.

Santalab goes into the book for, well, a classic striker’s challenge on McKay. Meanwhile Aloisi looks like he’s conjuring Henrique from the bench.

Broich comes off. He joins Petratos on the sidelines, who made way for Hervas just before that fourth Wanderers goal.

55 min: Brisbane try to play out of defence but they’re pressed as if pursued by the four horsemen of the apocalypse. Wanderers are definitely up for this now!

John Aloisi goes to the bench; we might see a tactical change here as he tries to reclaim the fight in the midfield.

It better come soon; the Wanderers are really cutting them to pieces. Castelen again at the heart of it.

Look out – now it’s a stinging drive from Bridge; palmed away from Young; and the follow-up from Castelen has struck the post! Would you believe it; Romeo denied a hattrick by the finest of margins.

50 min: Let off there, it’s a bizarre offside call. Jamieson and Nichols attempt the short corner one-two, but will no players on the post, it’s been flagged by the linesman.

Wanderers come again – and I think that’s officially the first save of the game! Not a bad stat, when you’ve already seen five goals.

Young denies Castelen, as Borrello now goes into the book for a foul on Jamieson.

Andreu with a set-piece opportunity of his own to make amends.

48 min: Nichols runs at the Brisbane back four, it falls to Neville out wide and he’s won a corner. Some good closing defence, but some early pressure will please home coach Popovic.

Jamieson stands over it.

Interesting stuff from the official account of the Hyundai A-League, good to see they too can see the humour in it all:

Let’s hope the follow-up doesn’t involve Tony Popovic strapping yon Cookie to a bedframe and issuing a tranquiliser; you’d imagine the Wanderers boss will be in no mood to be handing him a glass of milk to accompany those first half freebies.

Your thoughts on that 45 minutes of mayhem?!

Anyone care to predict what we’re going to see next?

It’s hard to reason what either coach would even be thinking. Tony Popovic’s side have been arguably the more confident in possession, but again, haven’t necessarily created too much in the final third; whereas John Aloisi’s chargers look sharp in transition, but have been chasing shadows for large parts of that opening exchange. Good thing they were gifted a three-goal headstart though, because at times, especially in defence, they’ve looked a bit ordinary.

45 min: And once again, there’s almost a hush around this notoriously noisy ground. Home fans must be wishing for the break, they’ve been put through the emotional wringer!

42 min: Anybody else struggling to get a handle on this game?!

What another bizarre chapter of this amazing A-League season. Shades of Brisbane v Perth earlier in the season, when the then cellar-dwellers put six past the then league leaders!

Say what you like about Brisbane’s ability to generate excitement going forward, at the back they will certainly give you chances. Poor Jack Hingert must feel like he’s back in a North Queensland Fury guernsey.

37 min: Ball runs to Jamieson on the left flank, he hangs a hopeful ball through to the far post but Young claims comfortably.

There’s half an opening here though, somehow Santalab has found himself one-v-one with Young; what’s going to happen..

35 min: Some very patient passing here for the home side, they’re about 30m out with Brisbane with ten behind the ball, only Maclaren up front looking to spring the counter.

So far, no real openings. We’ve seen this in previous weeks, they really need to lift the tempo if they’re to open up the Roar, ambling from side to side isn’t going to pose North et al. too many problems.

31 min: So we resume slightly more regular programming, both sides seem happy enough for a slight lull in proceedings. Wanderers stroking it round; you’d imagine Brisbane will be happy to sit deeper and invite Western Sydney on to them.

29 min: Okay. Are we up to speed yet? If you just went to the bathroom, you missed four goals. So much for the ‘should be a tense, terse encounter’ prediction.

There’s an absolute lull in the stadium; it’s almost like even the RBB can’t believe what they’ve just witnessed.

The good news if you are a Wanderers fan is that at least there’s still the best part of an hour to play. All they need now is two goals. And you’d argue if they get one, a second might quickly follow.

26 min: It’s the unfortunate Alberto who gets the last touch – are Wanderers’ Spaniards cursed?

But don’t dwell on that because would you believe this..

22 min: Right. Well! What to do now?

For a side so proud of it’s defensive record, what does Popovic do now?

But wait a second, wait a second – I can’t believe I’m seeing this..

18 min: Love to see a close up of Popovic now, he’d be absolutely chewing wasps.

A completely innocuous gift, but he calls on his chargers to calm down.

Now Alberto has given away a very cheap free-kick – you don’t keep giving set pieces to a side with Corona in their team!

14 min: An errant clearance from Santalab has handed Brisbane their first corner – could this prove costly?!

Would you believe this – Peter Green has blown a penalty!!

11 min: No real danger in that ball whipped in, but ‘keeper Young wastes the opportunity to give his team some respite with a quick release that goes straight out.

Now the Roar find a moment of possession to steady the ship a little. Brandon Borello looks to get round Scott Jamieson – that should be a good little battle.

10 min: Roar coming under a sustained patch of pressure here. North concedes a foul on Santalab, and the resulting free kick bobbles uncomfortably around the box.

Wanderers are enjoying the lion’s share of the possession in the opening ten minutes – Roar will need to gird their loins for action.

Nichols almost finds a dangerous final ball, but it’s blocked for a corner.

8 min: First glimpse of some goalmouth action – Wanderers with a fine-flowing move to find Castelen centrally on the edge of the box, but the former Dutch international blazes badly over the bar!

Disappointing for home fans; they’ll hope their number 7 is on his game; when he is he’s unstoppable; but when he’s not? Forgettable.

6 min: Close up on Aloisi (John) on the sideline, the Roar coach looking understandably tense. Meanwhile his counterpart Popovic looks like a man who hasn’t slept. Don’t expect that to faze him, if there was anyone in Australian football who could survive torture it’s probably the Wanderers boss.

4 min: The hallmark of Popovic’s Wanderers has always been a defence-first mentality, but don’t rule them out to strike swiftly on the counter attack.

Speaking of strikers, there’s the first little handbags of the day; Santalab making friends with Jade North, as he’s wont to do. The Roar defender should be too experienced to get suckered into any nonsense, but watch this space.

2 min: A low-tempo start, both sides appearing happy to stroke it around early on. Brisbane pass it along the back four before probing down the left with Broich.

It’s a reportedly lovely playing surface out in Parramatta, as the players emerge from the tunnel. Should be a full house, so expect the RBB to give it some noise.

A massive tifo dedicated to Tony Popovic is unfurled by the home supports; cameras also cut to a Brisbane fan holding an A4 printout profession of love for Jack Hingert.

Some early fireworks – don’t fret Channel 7 – these are legally sanctioned as part of the hype, but like this atmosphere needs any artificial assistance.

Both fans seem in good voice, let’s see if the players can match the expectations.

Last wee break – go now, or forever hold your pee-ce.

So kick-off is just a few minutes away, in the interim, here’s the latest team news:

Despite the glaring overconfidence of their media team, initially listing only ten players in their starting XI, it’s the line up you’d expect from the Wanderers:

Biggest talking points are the inclusion of ‘super-sub’ Brendon Santalab from the outset, and for mine, the fact that there’s no place at all, even on the bench, for young winger Jaushua Sotirio. Tony Popovic has showed great faith with the youngster, but he’s gone for experience with the fit-again Shannon Cole and Dario Vidosic backed to play understudy to Romeo Castelen.

Brisbane Roar will look like this:

For the Roar it’s again the starting XI you’d perhaps expect, but the big news is no starting spot for returning Socceroo Tommy Oar. Coach(es) Aloisi(s) must have decided his powder is best left dry; expect him to come on late in the game to test some tiring defenders. Also to come off the bench is the mercurial Henrique; you might recall the role he played off the bench in the 2014 grand final. Some of you might even have nightmares about it.

Oi oi. Hope this finds you well, wherever in the world you’re following this coverage.

Massive fixture here, as we find out who will contest the 2016 A-League grand final with Adelaide United.

Will it be third time lucky for Tony Popovic’s men? The Wanderers have been to two A-League finals and lost both times; Brisbane conversely have contested three of their own, and never lost.

I’ll give you some team news shortly, but before then – get involved! Who do you think will edge this, and why? Insights, conspiracy theory, bus-stop style rants are always welcome – shoot us an email at richard.parkin.casual@guardian.co.uk, or tweet @rrjparkin to join the coverage.

Always a massive fan of the little details or stats that others haven’t noticed; has anyone ever won a football match in which more than three players in their team were wearing orange boots etc?

I’m absolutely sick as dog, have spent the last six days in bed; but there’s no way i’m missing this one; so apologies in advance if the thinking gets cloudy at any stage. Kind messages or advice about upper respiratory infections also welcome.

Richard will be with you shortly but in the meantime, do yourself a favour and check out David Squires’ latest masterwork in anticipation of this weekend’s semi-final action.