The Queensland Roar have recorded their fifth win of the National Youth League season, overcoming a slow start to beat Perth Glory 5-1 at Suncorp Stadium.
Powered by a Chris Grossman hat-trick, the Roar notched their third win in succession, scoring four goals in the second half.
Thomas Oar and Josh McVey also got on the score sheet for the home side, while Eli Babalj grabbed a consolation strike for the Glory.
In a first half in which neither side really established ascendancy, the Glory looked as likely to score as the hosts and even had a goal waved away in the 30th minute – the result of having taken a free kick too quickly.
Unfortunately for the visitors, Grossman then bobbed up to score against the run of the play in the 42nd minute and sent the Roar to half-time with a 1-0 advantage.
Frank Juric initially parried Oar’s goal-bound shot but he was powerless to stop Grossman, who stroked home the rebound.
From there the floodgates opened, as the Roar scored three times in 12 minutes after half-time to put the result beyond doubt.
The impressive Oar started the run, ghosting in on the left side to slot home with the assistance of the far post.
It was 3-0 less than three minutes later, as Grossman scored his second of the afternoon.
Played through by skipper Adam Sarota, Grossman slipped the ball underneath substitute keeper Dejan Aleksic, who got a touch but was unable to prevent the goal.
McVey joined the festivities in the 57th minute, taking advantage of an unfortunate Scott Neville slip to slide a third goal past Aleksic. The goal was just reward for McVey who, only minutes before, had tested the keeper with an audacious curling effort from wide on the left.
The Glory also received reward for effort in the 67th minute, when Babalj rifled a brilliant shot past the diving Griffin McMaster.
Babalj, who was at the heart of many of the Glory’s best attacking moves, dribbled past two Roar defenders before unleashing a great right-foot blast from just outside the penalty box.
The scoreline looked like remaining at 4-1 until the dying moments, when Grossman had two gilt-edged chances to notch his hat-trick.
The first cannoned back off the cross-bar but his 89th minute effort – set up by Oar – nestled in the back of the net and gave the Roar their 17th goal from seven outings.
While Grossman, Oar, McVey and Sarota were all prominent for the Roar, Babalj, Andirja Jukic and Ludovi Boi never stopped trying for the Glory.
The result takes the Roar above Adelaide United into second spot on the National Youth League table.
Match Details
Queensland Roar 5 (Chris Grossman 43-/51-/88-, Tommy Oar 47-, Joshua McVey 59-)
Perth Glory 1 (Eli Babalj 67-)
Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
Sunday 23 November 2008
Referee: Nathan MacDonald
Assistant Referees: Ashley Beecham, Noah Reynolds
Fourth Official: David Walsh
Queensland Roar line-up: 1.Griffin McMASTER (gk) (OA) (20.Matt ACTON (gk) 59-), 2.Daniel BOWLES, 4.Brad McDONALD (5.Luke BRATTAN 45-), 6.Matthew MUNDY (10.Mitchell BEVAN 59-), 7.Adam SAROTA (c), 8.Michael RYAN, 11.Tommy OAR, 12.Josh McVEY (3.Michael ANGUS 59-), 13.Chris GROSSMAN, 14.Ben GRIFFIN (OA), 19.Isaka CERNAK
Substitutes not used: Nil
Yellow cards: Brad McDonald 29-, Chris Grossman 90-
Red Cards: Nil
Perth Glory line-up: 20.Frank JURIC (gk) (OA) (1.Dejan ALEKSIC (gk) 45-), 5.Hayden DOYLE, 6.Steven HESKETH (22.Trent SAINSBURY 58-), 8.Howard FONDYKE (14.Lewis HALL 58-), 9.Anthony SKORICH, 10.Adam LUCA, 11.Ludovic BOI (7.James SAMMUT 58-), 12.Reece VITTIGLIA, 13.Andrija JUKIC, 15.Scott NEVILLE, 16.Eli BABALJ
Substitutes not used: Nil
Yellow cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
