Adelaide United Youth endured a 0-3 defeat at the hands of Melbourne Victory Youth in Round 8 of the Foxtel National Youth League 2016/17 season at Elite Systems Football Centre on Sunday.
A George Howard penalty and a Cameron McGlip strike ultimately determined the result in favour of the visiting Melbourne side in the first 45 minutes, but a second half goal from Pierce Waring sealed the deal for the Blues.
Adelaide United Youth Head Coach, Huss Skenderovic, fielded defender Paul Wilson in his similar starting XI from last match day, as well as Apostolos Stamatelopoulos making an appearance from off the bench at halftime. John Hall was also named in the line-up, at the expense of Daniel Margush in goals.
The Young Reds looked to flourish over their bottom-placed opponents in the opening ten minutes, and duplicate the results of the reverse fixture in Round 3, as Ryan Strain advanced on obtaining an early advantage before directing his shot wide on eight minutes.
Gareth Naven’s men stunned the hosts through several consecutive attempts on goal, the first by Christian Theoharous inside the area, as they began to grasp control of the tempo. Nicholas Sette and Theoharous were a threat toward United gloveman, Hall, before being awarded with a penalty following Ben Warland’s foul.
Howard stepped up to take the spot-kick, and converted neatly past Hall to gain the lead in the 25th minute. Four minutes later, Victory Captain, McGlip frenetically doubled his side’s lead after dispossessing the Reds’ defence.
Following a second combination between Sette and Theoharous, Reds midfielder, Blake Carpenter, probed Victory’s back three in reply, but his effort was seen wide of the left post.
It was evident the home side came out with urgency in the second half, mustering a significant amount of chances, activated by Reds Captain, Josh Mori, with an effort from distance, seconds into the remaining half.
A dynamic combination between Mori and Strain provided space for Mori, but was thwarted before a shot could be aimed at Lucas Spinella’s goal.
Skenderovic turned to his bench to try and get a few goals back, which included Stamatelopoulos and Alec Maiolo, who instantly looked promising. Despite the danger set on by the two substitutes, it was Victory’s Waring, who came off the bench to capitalise on a defensive mishap and secure a steal of the three points.
Albeit the efforts of Mori and Maiolo to salvage something from the game, their efforts were left in vain as the Victory secured a win early.
Following the match, Young Reds Boss, Skenderovic said he was disappointed with the result, and believes his side were a bit out of touch, but is adamant they will come back stronger ahead of their next clash.
“We haven’t played football in about three weeks, and clearly we were off in the first half especially, in terms of the pressure from Victory, our match awareness and instincts of playing the game,” Skenderovic said.
“We made two very poor errors, as we weren’t on top of it defensively, and when you concede two goals, you are left clawing your way back into the game.
“You could see the difference between Melbourne Victory and us, with the factor of having that break, but next week is another week on the training park and hopefully this game has woken us up a little bit.
“And we will build up our momentum again, like we did at the beginning of the season, and come back stronger.”
