Brisbane have gone from their longest unbeaten streak to their longest losing, with Gold Coast inflicting their fifth defeat.
The result also drags the Gold Coast off the bottom of the table, but the M1 Derby wasn't without controversy with the 1-0 scoreline coming from a tight penalty call.
Brisbane will obviously be the more disappointed of the teams. They were given a boost early on with captain Matt Smith named in the first team, but they were still lacking Broich, Henrique and Meyer upfront, and it showed.
The Gold Coast lined up a solid starting XI with only Glen Moss really missing from the first team.
The M1 Derby has been a high scoring affair in previous encounters, but this time, with a deflated Brisbane and an inexperienced Gold Coast, there were very few chances for either team.
The cutting edge up front was missing for both teams for the majority of the match. Young guns James Brown and Ben Halloran looked the most dangerous for Gold Coast, and when they combined, Brown was able to wreak havoc on the Brisbane goal.
Around the half hour mark such a one-two combination gave Brown a one-on-one opportunity with Theoklitos, but the Roar ‘keeper was equal to it.
This seemed to spur Brisbane on, and then saw two breaks down either wing in quick succession, both of which were directed to Nichols, neither of which were finished.
Brisbane pushed hard towards the end of the second half, but were just too predictable and going backwards too often. It is better than losing the ball with a 50/50 pass, but in the absence of the brilliance of Broich, or the pace of Henrique, someone needed to step up in the second half.
The Roar continued their possessive domination in the second half, and continued to look flat. The Gold Coast were pushing them towards the wings and no-one was coming into the holes in the centre, be it Paartalu from behind or Berisha from the front.
Later in the game the counter was always looking promising for United, with Halloran and Brown storming the right and terrorising Stefanutto.
But the game changer came in the 85th minute. Substitute Rocky Visconte committed a foul across Halloran on the edge of the box. Halloran's momentum took him well into the box and referee Kris Griffiths-Jones pointed to the spot.
The Roar players were furious, with Berisha conceding a yellow card in his rage, and the replay may show the infringement might have been outside the box, but it really was line-ball and could have gone either way. Perhaps Brisbane a month ago wouldn't have had it given against them.
Gold Coast substitute Daniel Severino stepped up to the spot and drilled it straight down the middle to give the home side a late lead.
Brisbane poured forward, but it wasn't enough with still the finishing lacking. A telling statistic in the game is that despite Brisbane's 67% possession, they had only two shots on target, compared to the Gold Coast's five.
The game, despite the lack of quality, was as exciting as ever, with five yellow cards being shown per team, not to mention the crowd.
Almost 7,000, of which at least 4,000 were in orange, weren't the most well behaved group, but they certainly created an atmosphere that hasn't been felt at Skilled Park all season. The Den must be so happy that flares are orange.
Brisbane are aimless at the moment. They've lost their focal points and no-one has stepped up. The players who you think should be able to shoulder the responsibility are faultering. Do the likes of Nichols, Paartalu and Berisha only look so good because they are playing beside arguably the best player in the A-League? It is certainly no coincidence that this streak has happened when Broich hasn't been on the pitch, and the sooner they get him back there, the better.
The Gold Coast have sparks of good moments, especially James Brown and Ben Halloran, and were extremely solid at the back. But you have to feel they lifted for this game. You can't see them bringing this performance week in, week out. You'd like to say the same for the Roar.