Brisbane Roar have maintained their unbeaten pre-season run, defeating an Ipswich Invitational side 3-0 in front of 3914 people at North Ipswich Oval.
In a sign that the departure of Kosta Barbarouses to Russia won’t see the goals drying up, the Roar scored through Thomas Broich, Mitch Nichols and Alister Quinn in a solid pre-season display.
The Hyundai A-League Champions attacked from the opening whistle and striker James Meyer almost had his first goal of the pre-season after latching on to a through ball from Broich and unleashing a fierce shot towards goal after just a few minutes.
It didn’t take long for the Roar to break the deadlock, though, as Broich found the back of the net two minutes later.
The classy German was on hand to pounce on a header from Roar debutant defender Matt Jurman, giving his side a slim advantage in the game’s early stages.
Broich was proving to be a handful for the opposition’s back four and his link-up play with Meyer almost reaped another goal before a timely intervention in the six yard box kept his team’s chances intact.
Brisbane midfielder Erik Paartalu, returning to the starting eleven for the first time since recovering from an ankle injury, went close twice before the break but failed to find the killer instinct in front of goal.
The Roar were two goals to the good ten minutes into the second half, however, when Nichols cut inside an Ipswich defender and calmly slotted the ball past goalkeeper Chris Morrall.
A flurry of second-half substitutes from Brisbane coach Ange Postecoglou saw an injection of youth into the line-up, with triallist Tommy Cirjak and National Youth League regular Quinn looking particularly lively.
Defender Quinn rounded out the score line with just seconds remaining on the clock, combining well with fellow substitute Luke Brattan and displaying some impressive technique on the ball with the goal in clear sight.
