Kevin Muscat was there. So was John Aloisi. Even Mark Viduka was in the crowd. But where was Simon Hill? Where was Robbie Slater?

Yes I know the Socceroos play Uruguay, er Paraguay (I get my ‘guays' confused once in awhile) in a friendly, and Fox's number one crew was preparing for that.

But a first-ever Melbourne derby in the A-League was crying out for a blow-the-doors down Fox Sports production. Instead, we got a cookie-cutter, by-the-numbers telecast that veered far closer to the "ho hum" scale than anything else.

Remember, some had called this the most important game in the history of the A-League. Heart keeper Clint Bolton told me it felt like the season was starting all over again.

And in a year where the A-League has taken plenty of hits in the media, here was a chance to shine, a shot at redemption.

The game itself didn't disappoint, unless you were a Victory fanatic. Nearly 26,000 packed AAMI Park and saw a match with a little bit of everything: crisp passing, hard tackling, good goals and a red card.

It's a shame the television broadcast didn't match the quality of the game.

As one of many unfortunate Melburnians who couldn't make it to AAMI, I was nevertheless looking forward to the live coverage on Fox. They usually do a pretty solid job and I'm a big fan of Hill, Slater, Andy Harper and Mel McLaughlin.

But they didn't make the trip.

Instead we got saddled with the "B" team of Michael Zappone, Paul Trimboli, Ross Aloisi and Brenton Speed. Now, nothing against any of those guys. Trimboli is a superb analyst, and both he and Zappone are Melbourne guys.

But none of them scream "big match" or "special occasion."

The pregame buildup had no drama.

There were a few lame voxpops with Heart and Victory fans, a few shots of some old NSL derbies, a too-long interview with Ken Murphy and Mike Peterson, and a lot of the same thing you get every week, like injury reports and starting lineups.

But where was the interview with someone in the Heart organisation talking about how this was a watershed moment for a new franchise in search of credibility?

Where was the pre-produced piece with old hand Ernie Merrick and new man John van't Schip talking about their approaches to the derby?

And why couldn't Viduka have given us his two cents worth?

The call of the game itself was fine, up to Fox's usual standards. But the horse had already bolted. The chance to really build up the suspense had been lost, and that was unfortunate, especially when Aloisi's goal in the 11th minute had the red side of the stadium going nuts.

I've worked in TV for many years and I know how difficult it is to put on a telecast. I know it's easy to sit back and criticise when you don't understand some of the limitations - financial and otherwise - that people are working with.

But I also know that this was a big night for the A-League and for Fox Sports. And while the atmosphere at the game seemed electric, there was a severe power shortage when it came to the broadcast.