Brisbane has welcomed the return of injured Hyundai A-League stars Michael Zullo and Henrique with a dominant 4-2 demolition of the Australian Institute of Sport in the National Youth League at Ballymore Stadium on Wednesday.
The home side was stunned in the second minute when AIS livewire Kamal Ibrahim was brought down in the box by Roar defender Matt Byrne and referee Matthew Skinner pointed to the spot.
Damir Lokvancic made no mistake with the penalty, powering the ball into the top left corner with a searing strike that Brisbane keeper Luke Muir could do nothing about.
From there it was all one-way traffic though, with the hosts slamming in four consecutive goals before the visitors’ John Martinoski helped save his side some face with a stunning goal deep into injury time.
Martinoski’s strike in a game that had plenty of highlights was impressive, but it still failed to better Tyler Thurtell’s genuine wonder strike in the 65th minute that travelled the better part of 25 yards.
Thurtell slammed the door on the visitors’ hopes of salvaging a draw in devastating fashion, curling the ball in scintillating style to see it deflect off the woodwork and into the back of the net.
Earlier, the Roar steadied after their turbulent start and went close on a handful of occasions before Antony Schiavo found the equaliser in the 25th minute after a goalmouth scramble.
Henrique then came to the fore in his return to competitive football following a knee injury he sustained while playing against Melbourne Victroy on October 3.
The Brazilian flyer crashed in a goal after receiving some slick service from Adam Sarota and then delivered a pinpoint cross to see Tim Smits add his name to the score sheet.
Henrique continued to run amok after the major break, rattling the woodwork in the 50th minute and pushing another shot wide soon after.
He eventually exited the field of play in the 60th minute for Alistair Quinn.
Zullo may have lacked the striking flair of Henrique in his comeback from a bout of osteitis pubis, but the maturing youngster still looked lively in the opening half before being substituted for Jordan Farina.
Brisbane Roar 4 (Schiavo 25, Henrique 31, Smits 41, Thurtell 65)
Australian Institute of Sport 2 (Lokvancic 3p, Martinoski 90)
