A-League comp healthy after round 11

Three hat-tricks, 19 goals, four away wins and a change of the competition lead - round 11 of the A-League certainly suggested the fledgling soccer competition was in rude health.

A year since the passing of Australian soccer legend Johnny Warren - a proponent of attacking football - it was fitting the national competition celebrated a glut of goals in a round that ended with a change at the top of the table.

Perth Glory's 4-2 win over Adelaide United at Hindmarsh Stadium on Sunday made it a perfect round for visiting sides and Damian Mori's hat-trick was the third for the weekend, after Newcastle's Ante Milicic and Sydney FC's Sasha Petrovski scored bags.

Perth's win also paved the way for Sydney FC (20 points) to take the lead on the table on goal difference from Adelaide, which had led the competition for all but one round over the past two months.

Mori's 45th minute volley sealed his hat-trick inside the first half and with fellow veteran Bobby Despotovski adding another, via a penalty, the Glory was on track to inflict a crushing win.

However the Glory was forced to spend most of the second half defending Adelaide's repeated surges forward, and in driving rain the visitors held on to land Adelaide's biggest defeat of the season.

Sydney FC took the lead on the table courtesy of its 5-1 win over the Central Coast Mariners in Gosford on Saturday night, which gave Pierre Littbarski's side the edge on goal difference.

The round's other big result came on Friday night, when the Queensland Roar inflicted another home defeat on Melbourne, which sent the Victory plummeting to sixth after three straight defeats.

Roar coach Miron Bleiberg claimed after the win it was an injustice his side had started the round second-bottom, and his confidence was vindicated as Queensland is now easily the most accomplished defensive outfit, having kept six clean sheets.

Victory coach Ernie Merrick has his concerns ahead of Friday's game against Newcastle, chiefly how he can inspire his side's three-game losing streak without leading scorer Archie Thompson, who is now on duty with the Socceroos, and defenders Kevin Muscat and Geoffrey Claeys, who are both suspended.

Newcastle was the big climber of the round thanks to a 4-2 demolition of the New Zealand Knights, which came on the back of Milicic's history-making hat-trick - the A-League's first - in Auckland on Friday night.

The Jets started the round in sixth place and finished it in third spot, while Melbourne and the Mariners were the big sliders, as both dropped three rungs to sixth and seventh, with only the hapless Knights below.

Newcastle, which is undefeated since it was trounced 5-1 by Perth a month ago, could creep even closer to the table leaders next week if it can cash in on Melbourne's current misery.

Sydney FC (home to Queensland Roar) and Adelaide (away to Central Coast) have tough assignments in round 12, while Perth hosts New Zealand.