Matt Derbyshire bagged a brace as Macarthur climbed up to second in the A-League with a 3-1 win over Melbourne Victory.

Veteran striker Derbyshire seized upon a slack pass to dink home a cheeky finish in the fourth minute – the earliest goal by any Macarthur player in the A-League.

The hosts were indebted to a magnificent point-blank save by Adam Federici from Rudy Gestede that preserved their lead – an advantage that was doubled in the 39th minute when wing-back James Meredith headed home Jake McGing's cross to crown a fine team move.

Elvis Kamsoba reduced the deficit for second-bottom Victory after substitute Lleyton Brooks sprung the offside trap and his shot came back off the post.

But Derbyshire was played in by Michael Ruhs to coolly slot home his 13th goal of the season, strengthening Macarthur's grip on a finals berth and moving them nine points behind runaway leaders Melbourne City.

Macarthur's debut A-League season continues to go from strength to strength after Matt Derbyshire's brace secured a 2-0 win over Perth Glory.

The Bulls, who made their bow in December, climbed to second thanks to a comfortable home victory on Good Friday.

The new boys have now won three in a row in the competition for the first time and sit only three points behind leaders Central Coast Mariners.

Macarthur's first meeting with Glory went entirely to plan as in-form Derbyshire broke the deadlock after 10 minutes.

Benat Etxebarria, the only man to attempt 1,000 passes in the A-League this season, spread a fine ball out to Ivan Franjic, whose header back across goal from the right was met by Derbyshire, first to react to prod in off the underside of the crossbar.

Macarthur might have added to their lead long before the second deservedly arrived on the stroke of half-time, albeit in contentious circumstances.

Markel Susaeta bought a cheap foul from Sebastian Langkamp in the area and Derbyshire coolly sent the resultant penalty straight down the middle for his 10th goal of the season - trailing only Jamie Maclaren (12) - to seal the points.

Matt Derbyshire showed a poacher's instinct as he grabbed a second-half hat-trick in Macarthur's 4-0 win over Adelaide United.

The former Blackburn Rovers and Nottingham Forest striker sent Macarthur second in the A-League, with Mark Milligan also on target at Campbelltown Stadium.

In driving rain, Derbyshire swooped low as a corner from the left was helped on to the back post, heading Macarthur ahead from no more than a couple of yards in the 66th minute.

He then took advantage of Tommy Oar's low cross from the left that skidded across the wet surface to slide in the second goal seven minutes later.

Milligan weighed in with a third for the hosts after clever link-up play saw Derbyshire slip the captain behind the Adelaide defence to caress the ball into the bottom left corner.

Derbyshire still had unfinished business and he struck from inside the six-yard box for the third time in the game in the 90th minute, the close-range header from another left-wing cross by Oar sealing his night's work.

Brisbane Roar missed out on regaining top spot in the A-League as their four-game winning streak was brought to an end with a 2-0 loss against Macarthur at the Dolphin Stadium.

Warren Moon's side, leapfrogged at the summit by Central Coast Mariners at the weekend, were seeking a club-record equalling fifth consecutive victory in the league.

But Macarthur took all three points on their first interstate trip thanks to goals from Denis Genreau and substitute Matt Derbyshire's superb long-range strike in the final 14 minutes of the game.

The contest opened up in the second half and Genreau made the breakthrough with an excellent first-time finish away from Jamie Young to get off the mark with his first A-League goal.

The Roar had earlier hit the post through Dylan Wenzel-Halls but struggled to carve out chances and conceded a second late on through Derbyshire, who spotted Young off his line and found the net from 50 yards to seal a huge win for third-place Macarthur.