Are the Reds a real contender - or just having a decent run?

Michael Lynch: Adelaide could have gone top of the A-League Men table had they not squandered a two goal lead against Sydney at the last. Were they unlucky, or does it suggest they lack know how?

Are Adelaide United the real deal, or are they just a team that is having a moment?

Despite a late fade out against Sydney FC which saw them squander three points when they conceded two last-gasp goals to draw 3-3, coach Carl Veart thinks they remain on the right track.

''Very disappointing to put the work that the boys put in to let it slip in the last few minutes. We have to be better and close those games out, we can't allow that to happen,'' he said in the wake of the draw on Friday night which left them still unbeaten but prevented them from going to the top of the table.

At a time when Australia's leading coach Ange Postecoglou continually comes under fire from the British media for his attacking intent and failure to ''manage'' Premier League games when his side Tottenham is in control, Veart believes that his team surrendered the initiative in this game and allowed Sydney back into it precisely because they did ease off and retreat into their shells when holding a 3-1 lead in the last few minutes of the match.

"We tried to maybe hold on to the game instead of keeping going....keep attacking, keep pushing, keep our defensive line higher. We dropped off and tried to protect something: that's (something) we have to be better at. Those two late goals were very easily preventable if we were a little bit better as a defensive unit.''

Still, he believes, the players ''will take a lot of confidence from the first 88 minutes. We will keep pushing forward, we have a lot of belief in the group. We take a lot out of tonight's game. Yes, it hurt a lot to drop those points in the last few minutes and I am sure the players will use that pain to make sure it doesn't happen again.''

The knock on the unbeaten Reds as they approached their first home game in weeks against Sydney FC on Friday night was that they had not been tested against any of the league's high flyers.

Sure, they had scored 17 goals in their seven matches, an impressive average of almost three a game, but those wins had all come against teams that, going into this round, occupied the bottom six places on the ladder. Even Sydney, who came to this game with enough of their problems, was not a top-six side.

But with their history and overall record and resources (few clubs in this league have been able to sign Brazilian internationals like Douglas Costa, who have played for Bayern Munich and Juventus ) Sydney was expected to provide a sterner test of Adelaide's mettle and give a better clue as to their potential as a title challenger.

Given Adelaide's goal difference ahead of this game - 17 for and nine against and Sydney's generosity (Ufuk Talay's team had shipped 14 goals in their seven matches ) - this was always likely to be an encounter that produced some fireworks.

And the crowd did not have to wait long to be brought into the game as the Reds quickly exploited one of Sydney's weak spots down the flanks, with Ben Folami breaking through the centre before feeding Dylan Pierias down the right flank.

The fullback's aggressive running is a major feature of his game - and Adelaide's threat - and he found space to deliver a cross which in-form striker Archie Goodwin converted from close range at the second attempt.

It was the sort of start that should have reinforced the host's confidence, but it was the visitors who hit back and exposed a frailty in the Reds rearguard as Patrick Wood was allowed to break clear near the byline to find Costa. The Brazilian needed little invitation to smash home a powerful shot.

Would the Reds go into their shell having surrendered the early advantage? Sydney had their tails up and with experienced forwards like Costa and Joe Lolley in their ranks certainly had the know-how to find Adelaide's weaknesses.

Success does, however, breed belief and with Pierias's pace, Stefan Mauk's combative instincts and Goodwin's willingness to work hard and snap at chances it was easy to see why they have been the competition's leading goal scorers to date.

And it didn't take them long to restore their advantage and it was that man Mauk, who had scored in his previous two games, who showed tenacity and opportunism in equal measure to seize on the rebound from a Pierias shot to fire home from close range.

Would Adelaide be able to hold on to this lead? The game turned into an arm wrestle as both sides scrambled for loose balls and 50/50 challenges: Zak Clough went into referee Daniel Elder's notebook as did Costa, whose heavy challenge on Reds captain Ryan Kitto might, on another night, be seen to have been worthy of something more than a yellow card.

Sydney tightened up in the second period, depriving Pierias of the space he had enjoyed in the opening 45 minutes, and their press was frustrating Adelaide's attempts to create from deep.

Would this continue to cramp Adelaide's style? Did they have the guile, wherewithal and players to find a different route to goal?

The halftime stats showed that Sydney had enjoyed almost 56 per cent possession but Adelaide had been the more efficient, and for much of the second half that was the same story.

Sydney looked purposeful but could not convert their chances, while Adelaide capitalised on what came their way: in this case, it was Goodwin again who profited when Sydney goalkeeper Harrison Devennish-Meares saved from Jay Barnett but was unable to stop the Reds frontman's effort as he reacted quickest to the rebound.

It looked as though the Reds had proved their point. But getting to a 3-1 lead is one thing: staying switched on, focused and in control for the full 90 minutes is quite another.

Costa had already been a central figure in this game - his equaliser had been his first Sydney goal - and he breathed some life into his team with a long-range effort in the 89th minute that curled around from distance and beat James Delianov at the far post. It was a speculative drive and not something Delianov would want to see again, but it was a fair reward for Ufuk Talay's team, which had worked hard and created chances without taking them earlier in the game.

Would the Reds be able to shrug this setback off, slow the game down and manage their way to the win that would take them to the top of the table?

Alas for Veart and the almost 12,000-strong crowd that turned up at Hindmarsh, their nerve, tactical discipline and perhaps experience let them down in the dying moments as Jordan Courtney Peters rose to nod home a leveller with just 15 seconds remaining. Delianov came but came too late and was nowhere near the ball as the Sydney defender leapt highest to give the visitors a morale-boosting point.