Melbourne Victory and North Queensland Fury have shared a bizarre 2-2 draw at AAMI Park in a game blighted by an overzealous refereeing debut from Chris Boyle, who awarded three penalties and sent two Fury players off.
The Fury took the lead in 15 minutes through Eugene Sseppuya, but the game turned on the half hour when Chris Grossman brought Robbie Kruse down in the box, earning a red card for his troubles. Kevin Muscat slotted the penalty.
Melbourne dominated the play for the remainder of the game, but it took until the 75th minute for them to take the lead, when debutant Geoff Kellaway's marauding run was brought to an end by Osama Malik and Boyle pointed to the spot for the second time.
Again, Muscat had no trouble converting from the spot, but the drama was far from over. Fury won a corner in the 80th minute and while the players waited for the ball to come in, Diogo Ferreira was pinged for holding Mark Hughes and there was a third penalty.
In the ensuing ruckus, Eric Akoto pushed Muscat to the ground and Boyle produced another red card. Unruffled by all the goings on, Chris Payne converted the spot kick to make it 2-2.
Melbourne pushed hard for a winner but Justin Pasfield produced a number of quality saves at the death for his side to hold on for a remarkable point.
It means Melbourne are still without a win in the first three rounds, while Fury maintain a lofty position up the top end of the table after maintaining their unbeaten start to the season.