Hyundai A-League Friendly Wrap

Multiple A-League sides continued their pre-season preparations in friendly matches last night, ahead of season nine of the Hyundai A-League.

AS Reggiana 2 – 2 Sydney FC

Sydney FC finished its Italian pre season tour with an entertaining 2-2 draw against AS Reggiana thanks to a spirited second half performance that saw Corey Gameiro and Nick Carle give the Sky Blues a share of the spoils with a goal apiece.

AS Reggiana managed to snare bragging rights after a hastily-convened penalty shoot out saw the hosts run out 6-5 winners but the Sky Blues performance capped off a successful tour with three wins, a draw and two losses to show for their efforts.

Sydney FC played some good football throughout the match, going behind courtesy of two soft first half goals to AS Reggiana strikers Davide Cais and Andre Viapiana before Gameiro led a second half fightback where the Sky Blues swung momentum with a brace of goals three minutes apart just after the break.

Perth Glory 3 – WA State team

A stunning individual goal from Daniel De Silva helped steer Glory to a come-from-behind 3-1 win over the WA State team in Wednesday’s Call to Arms Cup clash at Inglewood’s Intiga Stadium.

Picking up the ball some 25 metres out, the highly-rated 16-year-old bore down on goal, juggled the ball over one defender, dribbled past another and then fired an unstoppable shot into the bottom corner to claim a spectacular first goal for the club.

Steven McGarry also found the net from the penalty spot, with Ndumba Makeche adding the third right at the death, but Glory were made to work hard for their victory after Sorrento’s Gavin Knight had fired the State team in front with only two minutes on the clock.

Western Sydney Wanders 2-1 Wellington Phoenix

The Western Sydney Wanderers have claimed a 2-1 victory in their pre-season clash with the touring Wellington Phoenix at Lily Homes stadium in Sydney’s west.

After the match remained goalless for the opening 80 minutes a flurry of late goals saw the Wanderers get their second pre-season win on the trot as their new signing Brendon Santalab scored a brace on debut.

The New Zealand based side had the better of the first half but could not get the early ascendancy over last season-s Premiers Plate winners.

The Wanderers began to look more dangerous when first team regulars Youssouf Hersi, Shinji Ono and Jerome Polenz were injected in the second half, but it was the visitors that got the opener on 81 minutes when 20-year-old Louis Fenton got the ball past Ante Covic.

It wasn-t long before Brendon Santalab got the Wanderers back on equal terms after converting from a Polenz cross to have the scores at 1-1.

The former Chinese Super League striker then gave his side the win in the dying minutes when he again headed home from a Polenz cross in what was a positive sign for the new look Wanderers attack as they claimed the 2-1 victory.

Newcastle Jets 3 – 0 Canberra NPL Allstars

The Newcastle Jets continued their preparation for the 2013-14 Hyundai A-League season with a hard fought 3-0 victory over the Canberra NPL Allstars at McKellar Park.

761 dedicated fans braved the bitter cold in the nation-s capital, to watch a Newcastle side featuring five recently-capped Socceroos.

Many fans had not yet found their seats when Craig Goodwin opened the scoring for Newcastle after only two minutes.

The Jets Andrew Hoole crashed a shot against the Canberra crossbar, and following a mad scramble in the penalty area, the ball fell to Zadkovich, who powered the ball into the net to put the Jets 2-0 up at the half.

The backbreaking goal came 18 minutes into the second half, as Canberra lost possession in their own half, and the swift play of Virgili saw fellow substitute Rhys Cooper slot in low on the counter attack.

Canberra fought to the end, and had several goal scoring chances in the closing stages but Newcastle prevailed and were thoroughly deserved 3-0 victors.