Melbourne Heart’s first official hit-out against another Hyundai A-League club has ended in disappointment for the new boys as it slipped to a 2-0 loss to Brisbane Roar in Toowoomba on Friday night.
Mitch Nichols opened the scoring for the Roar in the 19th minute in front of 3000 fans before Matt McKay doubled the advantage 10 minutes before the break.
Brisbane dominated the first half but the Heart gradually worked their way into the contest after the break, although youngster Aziz Behich fluffed his lines with the side’s best opportunity.
Brisbane, though, should have scored six minutes into the game when Henrique badly missed a spot kick.
Heart defender and Sydney premiership player Simon Colosimo brought down the little Brazilian in the box but as he ran in to take the penalty, he slipped in his run-up and drilled the effort wide.
Down the other end, Jason Hoffman sent a Heart free kick from a dangerous position well over the bar in the 11th minute before Brisbane opened the scoring eight minutes later as Nichols drilled a left-foot shot past Clint Bolton after a nice one-two with German import Thomas Broich.
Former North Queensland defender Matt Smith then proved he was more than just a simple centre-half with an audacious overhead attempt at goal from a corner that did everything but cross the line.
Just after the half-hour, Broich unleashed a thunderous 25 metre drive which Bolton did well to palm away.
But from the resulting corner, McKay was able to react quickly to Luke DeVere’s nod down, the Roar skipper slotting home to double the lead.
Brisbane continued to dominate the encounter after the break with the impressive Broich at the heart of most moves through a dominant midfield performance.
The undermanned Heart, playing without star striker John Aloisi, did have a good chance to pull one back but former Melbourne Victory youngster Behich could only fire directly at Andrew Redmayne in the Roar goal.
Nichols then very nearly capped an extremely industrious personal performance at the death when he ran onto a Henrique through ball only to watch his rasping shot crash into the cross bar.
“It was a good result against a new side, but like us they still have a long way to go until the start of the season,” McKay said after the win.
“But it’s good signs that we were able to keep another clean sheet and that’s good news.”
