SAMUEL GLEESON blogs on the Melbourne Heart for BPL. Click here to join the BPL A-League blog network and to write on your favourite team.

Two games, one point, no clean sheets and one goal, but no goal scorer. That sums up the Melbourne Heart's introduction into Australian football.

Let's get the bad news out of the way first. The Heart did not show as much improvement as we hoped last week against the Newcastle Jets and let's face it, they were very fortunate to snatch a point from the Novacastrians.

The loss of veteran Josip Skoko to a hamstring injury in the first half was also a massive blow and he looks set to miss at least a month for the red and white stripes.

The good news is the new boys finally managed to score their first goal and although it wasn't what we all expected, Ben Kantarovski's 73rd minute strike was an absolute peach.

Own goal or not, it's tough to recall a finish of that quality in the A-League's brief history.

Of most significance to the fans will be the fact that after two rounds of the 2010-2011 season, the Melbourne Heart sits above the Melbourne Victory on the table.

While only one point of goal difference may be the only thing separating the two Victorian teams, it provides the Heart will a rare and slight edge over their cross-town rivals.

It's not the ideal start, but with seven draws out of 10 A-League games thus far, only three points separates first and last.

Moving on from Friday night, the Heart travel to Hindmarsh Stadium to take on Adelaide United.

Expectations? A draw is probably about right. Traditionally, Adelaide will try to bore the opposition to sleep before pouncing on the counter attack and I expect similar plans this week.

John van Schip has publicly said he will not change the formation and I like this attitude. The season is 30 games long and these players will take time to understand each other's strengths and weaknesses.

Personally, it would be great to see the likes youngsters of Nick Kalmar, Eli Babalj and Aziz Behich in the starting line-up, adding speed and unpredictability to the attack.

Sergio Van Dijk will be a big loss for the Reds if he doesn't pass a fitness test, and I expect the Heart to salvage another draw from their second encounter on the road.