94 min: Melbourne look to smother the game. Just keep possession, but Pain gives it away.

Petratos with a stinging long-range drive!

But Thomas hangs on.

92 min: Polenz can’t continue, and now the Roar have ten.

Good work down the right hand side sees Brisbane win a corner - can they threaten the spectacular?!

Melbourne clear their lines, and almost threaten on the counter. Muscat with a time-killing sub; Berisha comes off and Connor Pain comes on. That’s a red card avoider that is.

90 min: and as quickly as that moment arose, it passes. Polenz down with a lengthy injury, and the momentum and sting has once again gone out of the game.

89 min: Sarota still working hard. Now Thompson’s been booked too! A real ugly challenge, in the category of ‘strikers’ tackle’. Polenz was striding forward there - a nice interception.

This aggro has lifted the Roar a bit - any chance it might inspire the young chargers to something dramatic?

87 min: here we go - Berisha’s gone down, and suddenly Broxham’s been booked! Not sure what’s going on there. Now Berisha’s in the book too - and yet it’s a Victory free kick! A bit of a melee, and a few angry faces. Well, he’s certainly competitive, our Besart.

85 min: I’d love to tell you more about the on-field action here, but it is turning into a bit of a limp affair. A bit of a pre-season feel at times - the crowd have only really roared to life on about two or three occasions.

Well, excepting Berisha, whose now antagonised another former teammate. Solorzano and the BB-gun squaring and nosing up. Much ado about nothing, really.

83 min: A bit of aggro between Berisha and Bowles. Good to see the former Adelaide fullback getting amongst it.

80 min: a pause in play here as claret flows following a headclash between Milligan and Jackson. The Melbourne fans in the crowd are starting a bit of a Poznan here.

That is a fair volume of red business flowing from the ol’ noggin region for Jackson. His night ends with a massive blood-soaked towel holding him together. Shame that, a decent showing from the young lad. On comes another Brisbane teenage debutant!

78 min: and six minutes into his A-League career Yango’s been booked. It’s almost like Thijssen’s given him a free hand.

Yango unchained, if you will.

76 min: So Melbourne very much in control, especially with Finkler and Thompson lurking. Credit to the young Roar defenders they’ve proved more or less obdurate.

They just need a spark in the front third though - very little threat in this second half. Perhaps tiring legs are seeing Petratos and Lustica dropping deeper, leaving their front three very much isolated.

74 min: Polenz goes through the back of Ben Khalfallah. Trademark Polenz that - how many times did we see a tackle you could call ‘rugged’ or ‘agricultural’ from the former Wanderers player? Kevin Muscat blows up at the referee - prompting Ben Willliams to have words. Probably to the effect of ‘settle down big Kev, I’ve already gifted you this game’.

72 min: nice moment here - Brisbane are bringing on another teenage debutant. Abrahim Yango, a Liberian-born lad, has come on at left wing. Increasing the A-League’s tally of Liberians by 100%. (Spot quiz, who’s the other?)

70 min: And is Berisha in here? It’s bulged the back of the net!

Nope - offside says the linesman. Correct decision there, and the Albanian is denied his second goal against his old club inside a week.

69 min: Roar still probing here. Theodore and Solorzano combine down the left flank, but can’t find a way past Broxham. Both the Victory fullbacks have been excellent tonight - Brisbane have struggled to put them under too much pressure.

68 min: and for no apparent reason the printer here at the Guardian den has starting making noises. That’s not at all creepy when I’m the only one in a massive open plan office.

66 min: Victory win their tenth corner. Tenth? Wow. Finkler makes an immediate impact as he attempts to weave his way through. He’s been another standout this season. Don’t have the stats to hand, but I’m pretty certain he leads the league for assists. A few decent goals this year too. Amazing when you think he was out with a serious, almost career-ending, knee injury just a few years back.

65 min: Muscat keen to kill this off - I bet Archie’s keen to add to his tally. He’s always so dangerous in these late game situations.

62 min: and if there were any Victory fans getting nervy about a slender one-goal lead; there are signs of Archie Thompson AND Gui Finkler warming up to come on.

Good golly. You probably deserve the Premiers’ plate if you can bring kids like this on off the bench. Barbarouses and Mahazi make way.

60 min: a slight excitement ripples through the crowd as the Roar make headway down the righthand side. Polenz certainly brings a bit of forward momentum to the men in orange.

57 min: corner here for the Victory. Barbarouses twisting and probing. But nothing comes of it.

Daniel Bowles has moved to centre back here, with North presumably succumbing to a minor tweak, going off at half time, and so Polenz is given a run.

54 min: the Roar for their part are still nipping round with some intent here. Trying to knock it left to right, right to left - using their width to try and pry open the Victory’s defence.

Say what you like about a 4-2-3-1. When it works, it works. Very hard to break down a back four when there are two midfield screens in front. I wonder just what went wrong with Tony Popovic’s Wanderers this year then..

50 min: Melbourne not exactly sitting back, but they are putting the onus slightly more on Brisbane to make the forward running. Why not - one-nil lead, and they’re perhaps the most dangerous attacking team on the counter. Let’s see if they draw Thijssen’s tyros (mine’s better) into overcommitting.

Meanwhile a bit of stick being thrown round for poor old Ben Williams:

Ha. He certainly carved himself out a bit of reputation during the Asian Cup.

This one’s slightly more cryptic:

To be fair - I once refereed an under tens game where I had to dish out yellows just to keep it from bubbling over. An old Macedonian nonna came over and not rudely, more just disappointedly, told me she hoped I wouldn’t ever referee again.

Promise kept, madam. Promise kept.

49 min: Melbourne working nicely here, short passes inside the box - Barbarouses almost finds Berisha, but the moment is lost.

Trawling the Interwebs to see peoples thoughts on that pen - there’s a fair bit of steam out there.

Ned Zelic says no:

And if that’s not enough - so does Lucy:

Anyone got some intel on what mama and papa Zelic reckon? Keep me posted.

Oh dear, the replays aren’t kind for poor old Shiedsrichter Ben Williams. That’s a 0% penalty. 5% at most. In his defence he did ask his assistant first before whistling.

What a shame that that’s the decisive action from the first half. 0-0 could have been a really juicy set up for the second half - the pressure rising on Melbourne Victory to win this; nothing to lose for the Roar youngsters.

In other news, Simon Hill’s dubbed them Frans’ Fledglings. Absolutely gutted. I was working on Thijssen’s tyros or something like that. Dammit, Hill. You try watching, typing and coming up with quips all at once. It’s easy for you fancy types in your big shiny commentary boxes. Mono-taskers.

45 min: just the one minute of extra time. There’s not been too much spite out there. In fact it really has been quite a tame affair, outside the two tackles that got yellows.

Wait on, wait on - just seconds from halftime and you won’t believe it..

44 min: Nick Ansell picks up a yellow for a late tackle on Lustica - nasty, that. Well this could be interesting - both centre backs on yellows - and here’s Lustica standing over another free kick..

No, no, no. Lofted tamely over. Not like his previous effort - that was a peach.

42 min: Valeri clatters into one of the young Roar chargers - the former Socceroo, as he did midweek, is clearly looking to step things up a bit here. It’s amazing how experienced players just sense those little moments when their team needs to step up.

40 min: another nervy moment between Jackson and Young at the back for the Roar; Broxham almost nips in between the centre half and ‘keeper.

Hang on, isn’t that a pub in Melbourne? I hope there are a few down at Young and Jackson’s watching Young and Jackson make a hash of things.

39 min: Petratos with a half chance - a nice snap shot flies just a metre or so above the cross bar. Delpierre giving the referee what for, apparently a hand in the buildup there.

37 min: Victory not quite moving with their usual fluidity. We’ve seen this across the season - without Finkler in the No.10 role (attacking midfielder/playmaker) they do sometimes struggle to string the passes together.

35 min: Brisbane playing with tremendous width here. With the wingers and fullbacks huggling the touchline when they go forward it’s really leaving Melbourne with acres of space on the transition.

33 min: first sideline close up of a marginally pinker Kevin Muscat. He really is the chameleon of the A-League. If he changes colour too rapidly you know things aren’t going to plan.

30 min: It’s not exactly scrappy, but it’s not champagne. A few glances of frustration between the Victory forwards as Barbarouses in particular fails to pick out his fellow tormentors. A little lacklustre from the side chasing the Premiers’ plate.

28 min: I’m scratching my head to remember if Solorzano had this much hair four nights ago.. Has he had implants? Quick-grow afro? He’s certainly cutting a bold figure leading the Brisbane line.

26 min: with a momentary lull in the game, a deflected cross from Solorzano has deflected onto the post! Not just the Roar boasting young, inexperienced players out there - some nervous moments for Thomas in goals.

25 min: yellow card here for Lustica. He hacks down Ben Khalfallah - gee he’s really been lively so far; best on pitch. Andy Harper in commentary is calling that a ‘really nasty’ challenge; ‘halfway between a yellow and red card’. Time for orange cards in the A-League? Discuss.

23 min: first real noise from the home crowd - they’ve been a little quiet perhaps expecting a few bigger names on show. Some impressive work from young Theodore though and suddenly they’re coming alive.

21 min: and... Young tips round the post! This is suddenly looking a bit end-to-end. And that man again, Ben Khalfallah with a strong driven shot from just outside the 18 yard box. Roar’s keeper equal to the task.

19 min: apologies, Thomas in goals that is, Coe out injured. The young Roar are pressing quite well here, nipping at the heels of the Victory players. A bit of confidence coming in, perhaps?

17 min: oohh.. off the crossbar! Out of nowhere a free kick just outside the box is curled round an outstretched Nathan Coe, and like that the Roar almost with a hugely improbable lead! Brilliant effort from Lustica.

15 min: great work from Ben Khalfallah to weave a way through a tight defence. The cross from Barbarouses doesn’t find Berisha though.

So it’s not quite ‘wave after wave’ but there is certainly a trend that all the attacks are heading in one direction. Petratos and Lustica need to get to grips with Melbourne’s midfield generals, otherwise Milligan and Valeri will just start dictating here.

13 min: Besart Berisha with his first half look at goal, but North blocks the shot. You just know if there’s anything going tonight, the Albanian will look to be amongst it. Some of the crowd gave him ‘Who are ya?’ on Wednesday night when he missed a half-chance. About seven minutes later he scored. Yeah, that’s who I am. I’m Besart flippin’ Berisha you fools.

12 min: both sides just stroking it around. It’s a subdued atmosphere inside the stadium in Brisbane. Adam Sarota has been knocking some nice balls - he plays a really crucial role tonight, filling in for Luke Brattan in that crucial No.6 role at the base of the Roar’s three-man midfield.

10 min: one positive is that the pitch looks marginally less terrible than it did on Wednesday night. Let’s see how it holds up. Devotees will remember this pitch from the Asian Cup.. I was sharpening my knives for it had the Socceroos not got through some tough fixtures there..

9 min: an errant pass by young Jackson and Ben Khalfallah is in for a clear shot. Bowles covers to pressure and the shot goes wide. Okay, there are some nerves out here for the Roar.

7 min: Melbourne move forward again - no real zip in the game yet; yes they’ve had a few looks, but it’s not all one way traffic. A bit of space between the Brisbane lines, they’ll have to tighten up if they don’t want the Victory forwards to cut them to ribbons.

5 min: corner for the Victory - Broxham works it short but it only leads to another corner. Debutant centre half Jackson clears that for another corner - before Ben Khalfallah threatens on the edge of the box.

Brisbane look to break and Delpierre goes in the book for a professional foul.

3 min: four debutants in this Roar side - some very proud parents out there no doubt, as they should be. Let’s see how they get to grips with the Victory.

Fahid Ben Khalfallah gets his first look at goal - what a curling, screaming effort that was! He’s been absolutely class all season, and that’s Jamie Young’s first scare in goals.

Still, some experienced heads in that Roar XI. North, Lustica, Sarota and Solorzano are all quality players - let’s hope some of these Roar kids around them step up and etch their names in history.

Kick off just around the corner - put the kettle on now, and fetch your slippers.

At first glance I’m as shocked as you are - many questions there.. (among them - since when has Vince Rugari been verified on twitter?)

Jemma’s not too impressed.. If you’re of a like mind join the conversation - fire me an email at richard.parkin@theguardian.com or tweet me @rrjparkin. Is that what the kids say these days? Tweet me?

One thing’s for sure its bound to make things a bit interesting.

Kevin Muscat must have thought he knew his opponents pretty well after that midweek encounter. You’d be spewing if you spent the whole week practising ‘showing Broich right’ only to see the two-time Johnny Warren medallist isn’t even on the bench!

Spare a thought for fellow German Jerome Polenz - it’s very much a second string Roar team - and he’s still riding the pine.. Injury could be a factor there though.

What’s missing from this picture you ask?

Frans Thijssen has really rung the changes ahead of Brisbane’s Asian Champions League commitments; some massive omissions - smart work if you’re looking after your players travel demands - but I bet there’s some ropey fans sitting down in Sydney and Wellington to watch this one unfold!

G’day g’day. Hope this finds you well, wherever you are. Just settling into my chair in the dank bunker that is the Guardian office and already there’s some big news coming out of Brisbane, and it’s not made too many people too happy.

Rather than tell you straight up what this is, let’s first see the team line ups:

Nothing to see here - pretty much a full strength line up; as you’d expect with silverware on the line.

And Brisbane?

Hmmm...

Richard will be your eyes and ears tonight as he brings you all the latest from Brisbane; he’ll be along shortly but in the meantime have a read of Paul Connolly’s thoughts on tonight’s match:

If Melbourne Victory beat Brisbane on Saturday night at Suncorp they will almost certainly be A-League premiers for the first time since 2008-09. If Victory lose, however (and given the ebb and flow of the run-in you can’t discount it for all Victory’s class), and Sydney FC, Adelaide and Wellington win, well, the race for the Premier’s Plate will come down to the final round and it could still be a four horse race .

Read the full weekend preview here.