Victory snare late draw, A-League Friendlies Round Up

As the kick-off of the new A-League nears closer, all 8 sides were involved in practice matches over the weekend. Sports Australia’s soccer correspondent James Willoughby has a look at all the friendlies played in this exclusive review.

Friday Night:

Newcastle Jets 1 – Melbourne Victory 1

A late equaliser from prolific striker Archie Thompson earned the Melbourne Victory a point against the Newcastle Jets, away from home.

The Jets opened the scoring in the 29th minute when a free-kick from Matt Thompson wasn’t cleared properly and the ball fell to Craig Deans. The big defender didn’t waste his opportunity as he opened the scoring with a dipping volley. Newcastle dominated the first half whilst Melbourne remained largely anonymous with only defender Geoffrey Claeys holding his head up high. The Victory’s only meaningful attack for the first half saw them nearly level the match when Richard Kitzbichler’s attempt sailed just wide on the stroke of half-time.

The second half was completely different to the first, as Melbourne dominated with Newcastle taking a back seat. The Victory had plenty of decent chances in the second half but they finally got back on level terms when Archie Thompson’s 84th minute right foot strike hit the back of the net.

Adelaide United 2 – Perth Glory 2

In a high quality game of free-flowing football, it was both sides who shared the spoils at Hindmarsh Stadium.

Perth dominated the opening stages and got on the scoreboard, courtesy of an own goal in the 29th minute and then the lead was doubled by spearhead striker Bobby Despotovski after 52 minutes. It seemed the Glory were going to do it easy but two goals in 10 minutes from Ross Aloisi and Mike Valkanis made sure they game was a draw.

The match was marred by the sending off of Steve McMahon Jnr, son of Perth manager Steve McMahon. After coming on at the 68 minute mark, McMahon only lasted seven minutes before he was sent off.

Saturday Night:

Central Coast Mariners 3 – Queensland Roar 1

Former Glory striker Nick Mrdja hit a hat-trick for Central Coast as they recorded a convincing win over the Queensland Roar. What made Mrdja’s hat-trick even more stunning was that all of his three goals were scored in the first half. Mrdja’s first goal came when Queensland failed to clear a corner from John Hutchinson after 23 minutes.

Just 16 minutes later, Mrdja was at it again netting his second goal. And after 58 minutes, Mrdja ran onto a through ball from Tom Pondeljak and made it three, putting it past Queensland keeper Tom Willis with ease.

The last 30 minutes however were controlled by the Roar, but Central Coast keeper John Crawley made some good saves and once they hit the post. But the visitors did get some consolation when Reece Tollenaere scored in the 85th minute, rounding off a good move.

Sydney FC 3 – New Zealand Knights 1

In front of a strong crowd of 8,714 screaming fans, Dwight Yorke made his debut for Sydney and duly responded with a goal in a performance that gave Sydney fans plenty of excitement. Yorke had the fans on their feet after he converted a penalty to give the home side the early lead. The penalty was given after ex-Leeds and New Zealand keeper’ Danny Milosevic brought down Sasho Petrovski in the area. Milosevic was lucky to only receive a yellow card for his clumsy challenge.

Petrovski was in the thick of things again, this time making the lead 2-0 to Sydney with a goal just seconds before the half-time. Petrovski continued his sensational form with his second goal of the night, after he latched onto a superb ball from Terry McFlynn. After 73 minutes, Yorke was replaced by Ufuk Talay and he received a stunning ovation as the Sydney fans showed their support of their marquee player.

New Zealand did strike back with a long-range goal from Steve Fitzsimmons but it was only consolation, as Sydney recorded a convincing victory. [Sydney FC Report]

Pre-Season Cup Tables

During the group stage three points are awarded for a win, one point for a draw and nil points for a loss.

Related Article:

Preparations begin with Pre-Season Cup (Thurs July 21)

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