Through the first five rounds of the season, the Melbourne Heart showed glimpses of the best ‘pure' football the A-League has seen, and yet remained winless. On Saturday, against the Fury, the Heart were dominated for large periods of the game and at times looked second rate, yet somehow the boys came away with their first win of the season thanks to a Nicky Kalmar header; it's a funny game, football.

And with one win, the Heart have risen to sixth on the table; three points behind our round-one conqueror and round-six opponent Central Coast. It seems an age ago the A-League season opened with more than 10,000 fans watching the Heart's inaugural clash against the Mariners, not only due to the significant drop in crowd numbers in the last two home games. Yet the Australian sports public are a fickle breed, a few more wins on the board before the first derby game in October and AAMI Park could play host to near on 30,000 spectators. No better place to start than tonight against the Mariners, with the trip to Gosford providing a chance to get one back after that round-one defeat.

Rutger Worm is out with a hamstring strain, paving the way for a possible start for Australian goal-scoring legend John Aloisi. Aloisi looked sharp after coming on for a late cameo against the Fury and perhaps another appearance off the bench is more likely, however I'm sure Johnny would love to bury one at Bluetongue Stadium, in the process burying perhaps his darkest period in Australian football. Let's not forget that no less than two years ago Aloisi was a spent force in the eyes of many, and has shown tremendous character to get back to the standards of last season and hopefully there's more to come this season for the Heart.

Since our clash with Adelaide in Round Three I'm trying to steer clear of ‘poking the bear' and criticising our opponents. The ‘toothless' Reds have gone on to score 9 goals in their past three matches, claiming maximum points in the process. However I can't help but point out the apparent deficiencies of the Mariners up front. They may have put two past grandpa Petkovic and the Victory back four last round but I can't see them puncturing a Heart defence which has looked more assured every week in front of Clint Bolton. And with Michael Beauchamp returning this week it's looking like a dour night for the Central Coast; Heart to win 2-0!