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As defeats go, this must have been one of the hardest to take.
Up 3-0 against a 10-man Adelaide just minutes before half-time, the Brisbane Roar looked on track to record their first win in two months.
Instead, they ended up with the unwanted distinction of being the first team to lose in regulation time after leading by three goals since national competitions started in 1977.
The Roar's season of misery — having just one win and six draws in 17 games this season — was compounded by two red cards in five minutes of second-half madness at Hindmarsh Stadium.
Even these were typical of the Roar's wastefulness.
Defender Dane Ingham needlessly picked up a second yellow card for pointlessly kicking the ball out of play.
Then goalkeeper Jamie Young was given a straight red after charging out of his area and body-slamming Adelaide's Craig Goodwin.
Substitute goalie Brendan White's first touch of the ball was picking it out of the back of the net from the ensuing free kick.
That was the first of three goals the nine-man Roar conceded in the final half-hour, with the winner coming from Adelaide substitute Nikola Mileusnic deep into injury time, making it 4-3 and sparking delirious scenes from the home fans.
Australian football statistician Andrew Howe said it was only the second time a team in the combined history of the A-League and the defunct National Soccer League had come back from three goals down to win.
It was the first time it had happened in regulation time.
The Roar was also on the end of the only other loss from a 3-0 lead, losing 5-4 in injury time to the Western Sydney Wanderers in a semi-final in 2016.
"There have now been 1,208 games where a team scored the first 3 goals, with that team winning 1,195 times, drawing 11 and losing 2 (including an extra time loss)," Mr Howe wrote on Twitter.
Brisbane Roar interim coach Darren Davies was crestfallen after the match, saying it had been a "very steep learning curve".
"There was obviously some errors we made which cost us and we accept that, but to be in that position and cough up that lead is bitterly disappointing for the playing group," he said.
It was the second time the Roar had coughed up a strong lead to lose inside a month, going down 4-2 to Perth Glory on January 6 after taking a 2-0 lead.
And the loss continued the sense of crisis around the former A-League benchmark club, which saw former coach John Aloisi resign due to poor results in December.
Just over a year ago the Roar made international headlines when numbers fell off the players' jerseys in a shock loss to Filipino side Ceres during an Asian Champions League qualifier.
ABC/AAP
First posted