The much-anticipated Round 4 clash between Sydney FC and Melbourne Victory finished with a 1-1 draw but the quiet scoreline doth bely the 90 minutes of pure action.

Jasmyne Spencer opened the scoring, her fourth of the season, for the home side in the 60th minute before emerging "super sub" Gema Simon equalised late.

This contest was certainly one of the fastest and most proactive games of football seen thus far this season with an enthusiastic noisy Lambert Park crowd adding to the drama.

A cagey opening 30 minutes saw the home side holding a slight advantage with countless corners. A key moment for both teams was a powerful Servet Uzunlar header which was matched only by Brianna Davey's class save.

Melbourne were struggling to find flow in the midfield with Teresa Polias, Natalie Tobin and Nicola Bolger winning 1-on-1 battles and defending passing lanes to stifle Victory's transition.

Victory are at their most dire when relying on pacey Lisa De Vanna to collect defensive deflections and travel the whole field to take on 3 Sydney defenders on her lonesome.

Even though conceding at the 60th minute, Victory found a much improved cohesiveness in the second half.

Impromptu sub Gema Simon started to make waves and later Beattie Goad visibly lifted Melbourne's pace. Simon, who played as a defender for most of her time with the Newcastle Jets, has added some verve to the Jets' forward line when coming on as a sub.  Impressively, so has Goad, whose stock continues to rise.

Defensive efforts of Emma Checker and Steph Catley complimented Davey's bold blocks and confident mid-air fumble-free catches.

However, consistent right flank attacks from Teigen Allen and Amy Harrison took their toll when Harrison sent in a looping cross to goal-poacher Jasmyne Spencer who neatly volleyed home to open the scoring.

Victory showed their professionalism by rallying immediately following this and not conceding again despite Sydney's constant pressure.

As time wore on the momentum began to shift.

Sydney started to burn time and slow play which was not in their favour as the high intensity in the opening half was mostly working for them.  The Sky Blues also started to look frustrated when kept deep in their half so pumping long balls to Spencer became the tactic of choice.

No love lost between the two hyper-competitive sides resulted in a few slices of cheese distributed but that is what we have come to expect from the Big Blue.

Just in case the game couldn't get any better, there you had it, a late minute equaliser.

The final few minutes Sydney looked a bit shaky but in control until Gema Simon cleaned up a beautiful cutback from Christine Nairn as fireworks went off in the background (not really) and Victory were smiling.

Sydney FC are looking fit but their final pass and finish is lacking. Victory have a sharp finish but struggle in build-up. Combine the two sides and they could rule the world.

At fulltime it seemed uncanny that only a goal apiece had been scored with 'keepers Davey and Casey Dumont kept so busy and the crowd still perched on the edge of their seats.

Such a fantastic match-up it is criminal that these two will not meet again in regular competition due to a W-league season so short we are robbed of full home and away fixtures.