Louis Fenton made his Wellington Phoenix return after being sidelined for five months with a foot injury.
The 26-year-old right wing-back was one of the Nix’s star performers during their thrilling Hyundai A-League 2018/19 campaign.
76' SUB | What a moment for Louis Fenton as he returns to competitive action!
🔛 16. Fenton 🙌
↩️ 17. Elliot 👏#StandUpWithYourNix #ERereTeKeo #CENvWEL (0-3)— Wellington Phoenix 🔥 (@WgtnPhoenixFC) September 1, 2019
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Fenton played in 22 Hyundai A-League matches before his season was ended early when he suffered two broken toes in a clash against Newcastle Jets in April.
With his recovery from surgery scheduled to take 12 weeks, Fenton missed Wellington’s run to the Final Series, but finally made his comeback in a friendly against a Capital Football Central Select side on Sunday.
Ufuk Talay’s side recorded a 3-0 triumph at Weka Park with 18-year-old Ben Waine scoring a double either side of Alex Rufer’s strike. Fenton replaced Callan Elliot for the last 14 minutes.
FULL TIME | The final whistle blows here at Weka Park as your #Nix retain their lead from the first half.#StandUpWithYourNix #ERereTeKeo #CENvWEL pic.twitter.com/BKhtPuirnu
— Wellington Phoenix 🔥 (@WgtnPhoenixFC) September 1, 2019
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Fowler glowing with Roar youngsters’ performance
Robbie Fowler was full of praise as Brisbane Roar bounced back from FFA Cup heartbreak by beating Perth Glory in the opening match of the inaugural Surf City Cup.
Jai Ingham grabbed the only goal of the game on 61 minutes as Fowler’s charges edged the Hyundai A-League Premiers 1-0 to launch the three-team triangle tournament played over five days, which also involves Newcastle Jets.
🎥 Jai Ingham's second half goal proved decisive in last night's #SurfCityCup opener against @PerthGloryFC ⚽
🗣️ https://t.co/KW4GokIZcJ#RoarAsOne pic.twitter.com/LswSNkbe8O
— Brisbane Roar FC (@brisbaneroar) August 31, 2019
The game took place only 48 hours after Roar were sent crashing out of the FFA Cup Round of 16 in a crushing penalty shootout defeat against the Central Coast Mariners following a 2-2 draw at Dolphin Stadium in Redcliffe.
Fowler fielded 12 academy players in a youthful squad at the Croatian Sports Centre on the Gold Coast and the Roar coach heaped praise on his talented prospects.
“The lads were brilliant. They put in an unbelievable shift against a team that finished top of the league last season,” Fowler told brisbaneroar.com.au.
“We were compact, clever, did all the things that we had to to get the win.”
Brisbane play Newcastle at 4pm AEST on Sunday, knowing that a win would secure the trophy before Tuesday’s closer between the Jets and Glory.
Buzzing with the win tonight! Some top performances from our boys out there 🙌🏼 Was great to see you all in the Gold Coast, thanks for your support 🦁 https://t.co/Nwhois8YAC
— Max Crocombe (@Meeiix) August 30, 2019
Popovic pleased with Premiers’ progress
Perth Glory sent out a strong line up against Brisbane which included Diego Castro, Neil Kilkenny and new signings Bruno Fornaroli, Jacob Tratt, Kim Soo-beom, Osama Malik and Nick D’Agostino.
The Western Australian side may not have got themselves on the scoresheet but Tony Popovic was encouraged with what he saw.
Roar Reaction…
Glory's Head Coach Tony Popovic shares his thoughts on Friday night's #SurfCityCup clash with @brisbaneroar.
@ALeague #SurfCityCup #OneGlory pic.twitter.com/7cb7mDNO2G— Perth Glory FC (@PerthGloryFC) August 30, 2019
“There’s a lot of new players in there. We saw some good signs, and created some good chances so that’s always a positive,” Popovic told Perthglory.com.au.
“We gave away one chance on the break and they punished us with that. If we keep limiting the chances to one or two chances per game for the opponent then that is pleasing for us.”
