Wanderers unfazed as Roar dish out first defeat of season Jerome Polenz reacts to the loss. Western Sydney Wanderers suffered their first defeat of the season in a 3-1 loss to Brisbane Roar on Friday night but striker Brendon Santalab believes it could be the loss they needed to have. The Wanderers surrendered top spot to the Roar but with 20 games left, there is already a feeling throughout the squad that the Suncorp Stadium fixture will be a lasting lesson for the rest of the campaign. At times, the Wanderers were served a taste of their own medicine as they unravelled under the high-pressing game plan of Brisbane, particularly early in the match. They were taken back by the intensity of the Roar, so much so that they conceded twice in the first 20 minutes. Santalab says it is a timely reminder they cannot expect to win with inconsistent performances. "It's early days still - there's still 60 points to play for - but if we continue like this, then we should be OK," Santalab said. You never like to lose but we are early in the season, we've picked up good early points so far and I think that consistency over the 27 rounds is the key. You can go on a great winning streak but if you go on a losing streak you can slide down the table very quickly. There are teams jam-packed on nine or eight points behind us. The Wanderers had never conceded within the opening 20 minutes of a match but they were down by two goals at that stage against the Roar. Brisbane's high-tempo game and suffocating pressure forced plenty of turnovers and errors by the Wanderers defence and they punished these with classy finishes by Besart Berisha and Ivan Franjic. While many were surprised to see the Wanderers start a match so poorly, Santalab had expected the Roar to put them under pressure from the kick-off. Brisbane at home? Yes, I definitely expected them to come out," Santalab said. We were warned about it, which for us is the most disappointing thing. We knew we were in for a battle. It doesn't matter when you play Brisbane, they're strong. We were well prepared for them yesterday but they did come out firing but we didn't handle that well. Santalab opened his Wanderers account with a first-half strike to claw his side back to within a goal against the Roar. His debut goal was a composed finish on the end of a smart angled run. He was pleased with getting on the board for the first time, but was more focused on becoming a regular entrant on the score sheet in the coming weeks. "I've got to build on what's happened the last five or six weeks and start hitting the back of the net more regularly," he said. I feel that I've been getting in to some great positions and now I just have to put them away. Marquee player Shinji Ono could miss the Wanderers' next match away to Wellington after limping off the field in the first half with a groin injury. The Japanese star was replaced by Labinot Haliti in the 42nd minute after the coaching staff noticed that he was not moving freely. The initial prognosis is not serious, but it is understood that at this stage he will unlikely to be risked for the match against the Phoenix.