Matthew Comito

5 years ago

Friendlies wrap: Western United draw with Adelaide, Victory beat Perth

Western United bounced back from last week’s 6-0 friendly drubbing at the hands of Melbourne Victory with a 0-0 draw against Adelaide United.

Playing from Ballarat’s Moreshead Park on Saturday, the Hyundai A-League newcomers continued their preparations for the upcoming season with a fierce tactical battle against the Reds.

It was veteran centre back Andrew Durante who came closest to breaking the deadlock with a long-range bomb which whistled wide, as the two teams failed to find an opening.

“A lot of improvements from last week against Victory. The fact we didn’t concede on the back of last week’s result pleased me the most,” coach Mark Rudan told the club website.

“Their attitude and effort was a lot better than last week, too.”

United face Sydney FC in Ballarat next Friday.

Kamsoba stars as Victory beat Perth

Perth travelled to Melbourne this weekend for a behind-closed-doors friendly against Melbourne Victory, and will return home with valuable minutes in the legs but without a positive result.

Victory’s first goal came just before half time through Ola Toivonen, who collected a pass from Brandon Lauton and drove into the box, taking one touch past Liam Reddy before sliding the ball into the back of the net.

In the second half Kenny Athiu came into the game for the Victory meaning Elvis Kamsoba moved up front, and the pair combined for Victory’s second late in the game.

Athiu won the ball back for Melbourne in the attacking half, shrugging off two Glory players before spotting a ball through to Kamsoba who dashed in on goal, flashing his shot past the diving Reddy into the right-hand corner of the goal.

With Chris Ikonomidis and Bruno Fornaroli starting up top Popovic was hoping for goals but Glory failed to beat Lawrence Thomas in between the sticks for Victory.

Petratos misses penalty in Jets, Sydney stalemate

Newcastle and Sydney headed to Dubbo, NSW on Saturday afternoon to play out a goalless draw at Apex Stadium.

A bright start from Newcastle was highlighted by an early free-kick attempt from Dimi Petratos which called Andrew Redmayne into action, but Sydney clawed their way back into the affair with Adam Le Fondre becoming more of a nuisance as the half wore on.

Just after 20 minutes Newcastle had the chance to go ahead from the penalty spot but Petratos could only hit the post from the spot kick.

In the second half it was Le Fondre’s turn to hit the woodwork, but still the ball would not go in for either side.

After an end-to-end finish the game finished 0-0, and although both sides will be disappointed they couldn’t find the back of the net a clean sheet and an extra 90 minutes in the tank is a satisfactory return for both sides in a pre-season hit-out.

Wenzel-Halls fires double in Brisbane’s win

Brisbane Roar travelled to Hervey Bay to play Wide Bay Select; a side compiled of talent from Queensland footballing zone Football Wide Bay.

And the game – played at Fraser Coast Sports and Recreation Precinct – was hotly contested as Wide Bay Select put the Roar to the test in a goalless first half.

But at the presumption of play in the second half Brisbane were made to pay for a turnover in defence as Wide Bay Select scored the opening goal of the game.

But the Roar were swift in response to falling behind as Robbie Fowler’s side ramped up the pressure, scoring twice through Macauley Gillesphey and Aaron Reardon in the space of 11 minutes to regain the lead.

And after regaining the lead Brisbane went on to consolidate it through a late Dylan Wenzell-Halls double which pushed the final score out to 4-1.

A-League Men
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