Brisbane Roar and Adelaide United settled for a share of the spoils as they played out a 1-1 draw in Isuzu UTE A-League Round 22 action at Coopers Stadium on Saturday evening.
The two sides exchanged blows via a pair of stunning strikes from teenagers Harry Crawford and Jacob Brazete either side of half time in sweltering conditions at Coopers Stadium.
Roar started the contest brightly and came within millimetres of breaking the deadlock in the seventh minute when Antonee Burke-Gilroy rattled the woodwork with a strike from the edge of the area.
Matt Acton maintained his spot between the sticks and produced another big save to deny a Bart Vriends volley on the end of a Zac Clough free-kick in the 37th minute.
The home side opened the scoring on the stroke of half time when Crawford cut in from the right and unleashed an unstoppable strike into the top corner.
Six minutes into the second half Acton came up big again to save a Stefan Mauk effort at the near post after the midfielder was played in behind by Johnny Yull.
Jacob Brazete brought plenty of energy when he entered the match as a substitute in the 56th minute and had a big chance to level the scores when Sam Klein forced a turnover high up the pitch and played in the teenager who had space inside the area but couldn’t direct his effort either side of James Delianov.
Moments later Keegan Jelacic had his shot blocked after the ball fell to him in a promising position inside the area in the second phase.
Brazete bagged his first A-League goal in jaw dropping fashion in the 68th minute when sent a rocket into the top corner from the top of the box after being played in by Jay O’Shea.
From that moment Roar pushed hard for a match winner, with Brazete coming closest to finding that goal after making a trademark driving run into the area before dragging his effort inches wide in stoppage time.
Saturday’s 1-1 draw saw exciting young Queenslander, James Durrington make his A-League debut when he came off the bench in the 91st minute,
The 18-year-old attacking midfielder who played his junior football for Gold Coast United is a key contributor for Young Roar, netting four goals throughout the 2024 NPL Queensland campaign before making his first team debut in Roar’s pre-season tour of India.
Focus for Ruben Zadkovich’s side shifts to next Saturday’s trip west to face Perth Glory at HBF Park.
MATCH DETAILS
Isuzu UTE A-League Men 2024/25 – Round 22: Adelaide United v Brisbane Roar
Coopers Stadium, Brisbane
Saturday, 8 March
Adelaide United – 1 (Harry CRAWFORD 45+3’)
Brisbane Roar – 1 (Jacob BRAZETE 68’)
