Melbourne Victory advanced to the Australia Cup Round of 16 on Tuesday night but Wellington Phoenix fell to defeat in Victoria. This is what we learned from the two fixtures.
Lambton Jaffas 1-4 Melbourne Victory
The Patrick Kisnorbo era is officially underway in a competitive fixture as Melbourne Victory saw off NPL NNSW opponents Lambton Jaffas.
Victory blitzed NPLM VIC opponents Green Gully 6-2 in a friendly last week, and the 2023-24 Isuzu UTE A-League Grand Finalists carried that form into Tuesday night’s visit to Newcastle.
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Talisman Bruno Fornaroli converted a penalty while Nishan Velupillay bagged a quick-fire brace but it was a goal from teenage debutant Alex Lee that caught the eye against a Jaffas side boasting A-Leagues legend Nikolai Topor-Stanley and former Newcastle Jets and Central Coast Mariners goalkeeper Ben Kennedy.
The 17-year-old Lee was plucked from Victory’s academy and thrust into the starting XI by new boss Kisnorbo on Tuesday and he repaid the faith with a sublime goal to give the visitors a 2-0 lead.
It was a finish beyond his tender years and highlighted the youngster’s incredible rise.
Lee has not even played for Victory’s senior academy side, who top the VPL1 standings – only for the Under-23s and Under-18s – but has impressed ex-Melbourne City boss Kisnorbo, who is at the helm following his departure from French outfit Troyes in December last year.
He has scored four goals for the U23 side this season, while adding a further 15 goals for in the U18 competition.
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“It’s a bit of a catch-22 – we want to play young kids, but only if they’re suited and ready for our environment,” Kisnorbo said when asked about emphasising young players coming through via Victory’s media.
“Alex Lee is one of them, but there are other young players training with us. I was really happy with Alex’s adaptation to the first team level.”
Lee was not the only player to make their competitive bow for Victory’s A-Leagues side.
New signings Jack Duncan and Brendan Hamill were in the starting XI, while fellow recruits Jing Reec and Reno Piscopo came off the bench.
“I thought it was ok. We did some really good things,” Kisnorbo said of the performance.
“There’s still a lot of work to do, but I’m happy that the squad is coming along.
“We had a great debut from Alex Lee. It’s really impressive that we’re bringing young kids from our academy to play in the senior team.
“I was happy with the way we scored the goals, some great play. But also the way we worked and pressed that was really positive.”
South Melbourne 1-0 Wellington Phoenix
A youthful and under-strength Wellington Phoenix were eliminated by NPLM VIC leaders South Melbourne at Lakeside.
The Phoenix – semi-finalists in the Isuzu UTE A-League last season – succumbed to Harrison Sawyer’s fourth-minute goal in Melbourne.
Wellington entered the contest with just two training sessions together as a group due to international commitments and the Olympics, while the Phoenix lost star trio Alex Paulsen (Bournemouth), Ben Old (Saint-Etienne) and Finn Surman (Portland Timbers) this off-season as well as Bozhidar Kraev (Western Sydney Wanderers), Oskar Zawada (RKC Waalwijk) and Nicholas Pennington (Perth Glory).
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Giancarlo Italiano’s Wellington have signed New Zealand international Marco Rojas and two-time A-Leagues champion Paulo Retre, and the former came off the bench against South Melbourne as the Phoenix broke their all-time record for the youngest starting XI in club history with an average age of just 20.8.
There were two academy debutants in the line-up – goalkeeper Alby Kelly-Heald and winger Nathan Walker.
With Alby Kelly-Heald starting alongside his twin Lukas, they became just the third set of twins to play together in Australian men’s national league history (since 1977).
“They’re a tight knit defensive team, and it was more a matter of us trying to break them down,” Italiano said of the match afterwards.
“I thought we could have been a little bit better with the ball, especially I thought our sixes could have done a better job at commanding the game.
“Apart from that, I’m not sure what everyone expected because we had two training sessions together as a group.
“Boys have come back from France, I’ve got boys coming back from injury as well. Making sure they weren’t getting injured was my main priority.”
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Italiano added: “I thought Nathan Walker did exceptionally well, I thought Tze-Xuan Loke when he came on made a massive impact.
“I was very happy for those guys getting an opportunity.
“It was a young team. It’s not an excuse, credit to South Melbourne, they took their opportunity and defended well, but it was a really good experience for those guys.”
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