Victoria's second city mustered an impressive 21,289 fans to Simonds Stadium to see Perth Glory stun Victory 2-1 and assert its title credentials.
His side's performance left coach Kevin Muscat a disappointed man, but it wasn't his only regret.
"We couldn't send them home happy, it's disappointing from that perspective as well," he said.
"They've come out and supported us really well tonight.
"It just goes to show bringing games down here, playing games down here, there's certainly a thirst for football in this area."
If the thousands weren't leaving Simonds Stadium as Victory fans, they would certainly be fans of football after an entertaining game.
Muscat, who made just one substitute in oppressive conditions that saw the mercury as high as 37 degrees, had no sympathy for any players that might have grumbled at the heat.
"It's tough, playing professional sport is tough," he said.
"I thought we were controlling proceedings and leaving players out there who I thought were going ok.
"It just wasn't meant to be."
While Glory coach Kenny Lowe might disagree, Victory's 0-2 deficit inside 17 minutes was due to defensive mistakes.
Centre-back Adrian Leijer was tied in knots by Nebojsa Marinkovic's through-ball and punished by Andy Keogh's ruthlessness for the first goal.
Then Nathan Coe made the wrong call to rush out at Chris Harold, only to miss the striker and see him stroke home into an empty net.
But as always, Muscat refused to point the finger at individuals.
Instead, his biggest regret seemed to be the missed opportunity to bridge the divide to the West Australian side on the table.
"It was an opportunity for us to close the gap, we haven't done it," he said.
"The gap now stretches out to seven points.
"We've got a lot of work to do, we're certainly going to give it a crack, give it a fight."
