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Elsewhere, there were important wins for Moreton Bay and Western Pride in a ladder-condensing weekend.
Brisbane Strikers 1 (Henderson 45')
QAS 2 (Yango 26' Sibatuara 53')
Josh McCloughan's Queensland Academy of Sport caused the upset of the season at Perry Park on Friday night as Samuel Sibatuara's second-half goal claimed the Academy's first win of the season.
Performance and improvement would have been the mandate for the QAS when they visited the third-placed Brisbane Strikers, but through Abraham Yango's 26th minute goal, his third of the season, the visitors held a shock lead.
Academy spirits might have waned when Strikers defender Alex Henderson drew the hosts level on the stroke of half-time; instead, they regrouped at the break and captured a match-winning lead when winger Samuel Sibatuara showed his class eight minutes into the second-half by lifting a quality finish over David Chambers.
Their first three points of the campaign moved the Academy of the foot of the table and demonstrated an ability to turn performance into points, which was similarly developed last term.
Olympic FC 5 (Efstathis 21' McLean 24' Smits 38' Tabulo 46' Byrne 50')
Northern Fury 3 (Read 6' Waples 49' Navarro 77')
Five goals within thirty minutes of football sealed an awkward victory for Olympic FC over Northern Fury at Goodwin Park on Saturday night.
A 1-0 lead Fury had taken through the measured header of vice-captain Alex Read - one which might have been doubled had the upright not intervened - was reversed in the hosts' favour shortly afterwards as Nick Efstathis nodded equaliser was followed almost instantly by the finish of Jake McLean from Mark Fisk's forward raid.
When Tim Smits added his obligatory goal from a corner in the 38th minute it appeared as though the remainder of the match might have quietened down, but three goals immediately after the beak ballooned the scoreline to 5-2.
Jake Navarro later narrowed the defeat for the visitors though the result still dropped them a place to seventh, while the win opened a three-point lead in first for Olympic.
Redlands United 3 (Way 70' Macuace 83', 84')
Sunshine Coast FC 3 (Dwyer 20' Lynch 29' Arnison pen 78')
The star quality of Jheison Macuace rescued a point for Redlands United at Cleveland Showgrounds on Saturday night.
Fellow-top four side Sunshine Coast twice held a two-goal lead over the Devils - first through the combination of Leon Dwyer and Jeremy Lynch prior to the half hour, and then when Paul Arnison's penalty followed the finish of nine-goal Redlands attacker Reuben Way.
Just six minutes later, though, the hosts were equal with Macuace the hero: the striker initially cut his side's deficit to one with a scrappy goal in the 83rd minute and seconds later lashed home an off-balance, left-footed fizzer to settle the result at a point apiece.
CQFC Energy 1 (Geddes 59')
Moreton Bay Jets 2 (McEvoy 13' 24')
Chris Geddes' tenth of the season was not enough to rescue Central Queensland from sliding into last as Michael McEvoy ended Moreton Bay's three-match losing streak at Rugby Park.
McEvoy was on hand to tap-in from Karl Dodd's squared pass in the 13th minute and doubled the Jets' advantage eleven minutes later, again punishing Energy's defensive disorganisation from a second set-piece move.
Geddes' goal on the hour came with a slice of luck when he rebounded his own penalty initially saved low by Marko Radovanovic, but that's where CQ's fortunate ran out as Moreton Bay preserved their lead.
The Jets rose back to sixth with the three points and find themselves in a promising position, holding a game in hand on the teams below.
Western Pride 3 (Drager 29', 82' Woodruffe 51')
FNQ Heat 0
Western Pride produced a professional performance at Eric Evans Oval on Sunday to see off Far North Queensland in straightforward fashion.
Without the guidance of player/coach Kasey Wehrman, experienced protagonists Peter Drager and Russell Woodruffe shouldered goalscoring load needed for Pride to scoop just their second victory of the season.
Heat had 'keeper Mickel Breckenridge dismissed in coach Joe Fenech's first match in charge of the Cairns-based club, making a difficult afternoon in Ipswich even tougher.
The result meant the hosts leapfrogged their visitors into eighth.
Brisbane City 4 (Murray 21', 81', 90+3' Pase 85')
Palm Beach 2 (Kyle 31' Lucas 34')
A late rush secured three points for Brisbane City at Spencer Park when it otherwise looked as though Palm Beach would preserve a lead they held for over a half of football.
Normal service seemed on track in the 21st minute when hotshot striker Antonio Murray gave City the lead at Spencer Park, but a quickfire double from Sharks pair Jarrod Kyle, recently joined from Sydney FC, and Chris Lucas, volleying in Kyle's cross, turned the match on its head.
However, the final fixture of the round ended with a late City onslaught as Murray tapped-in a ball across goal, Alistair Pase found space centrally to slot the hosts into the lead, and Murray returned to race onto a long ball from 'keeper Matt Stein to wrap up a frenetic final ten minutes with his hattrick and fourteenth of the season.
The win moved Brisbane City within striking a range of both Sunshine Coast and Strikers as the Newmarket outfit have played a match fewer than the two clubs above.