Brisbane Roar’s India Tour came to an end with a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Odisha FC in the Bhausaheb Bandodkar Memorial Trophy Semi Final at the Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Tuesday night.
A Hugo Boumous brace proved decisive for the home side while Thomas Waddingham was on target for Roar with what was his third goal of the tournament.
Boumous opened the scoring in the 16th minute when he brought down a Rahim Ali cross on the top of the box before rifling a low effort past Macklin Freke and into the back of the net.
Florin Berenguer almost had a leveller three minutes later when Keegan Jelacic forced a turnover high up the pitch putting the Frenchman in on goal only to be denied one-on-one by Odisha goalkeeper, Anuj Kumar.
Boumous made it two in the 62nd minute when he ghosted in behind the Roar defence on the end of a Mourtada Fall free kick and drove along the byline before poking home a delicate finish at the near post.
Waddingham pulled one back for Roar in the 66th minute when he rose highest to head home from a Jay O’Shea corner for what was his third goal of the tournament.
From there Roar pushed hard for an equaliser and Jelacic came within inches of one in the 78th minute when his first-time strike was scrambled clear after Harry Van Der Saag headed a Corey Brown cross back into his path.
Ben Warland had the ball in the back of the net on the end of a Brown corner in the 81st minute but the referee adjudged the defender to have fouled his marker when winning the header.
It was Warland who again came closest to levelling the scores with another quick fire pair of headers off O’Shea corners in the 86th minute but the home side hung on to their 2-1 lead to advance to the Bandodkar Trophy final against FC Goa.
Reflecting on Roar’s time in India, Head Coach Ruben Zadkovich said it had been an invaluable experience for his side ahead of the 2024/25 Isuzu UTE A-League season.
“The hospitality here has been brilliant, it’s been a really good football exercise for my team and my staff and my players,” Zadkovich said.
“We’ve got a lot of learning moments which is great, some things to work on, which is great and some things to focus on.
“To the Indian people and especially the ones that have been looking after us at the hotel and travel, all of you guys the media and all the people around the stadium the fans we’ve met a lot of lovely people really good, people and the football culture in Goa is very strong so we’re very appreciative of that, we’re very grateful.”
Next up for Roar is supporters first chance to see the team in action in Brisbane ahead of the 2024/25 Isuzu UTE A-League season when they take on the Queensland State Team at Imperial Corp Stadium on Friday, September 13. Click here for details & ticket info
MATCH DETAILS
Bhausaheb Bandodkar Memorial Trophy- Semi Final: Odisha FC vs Brisbane Roar
PJN Stadium, Fatorda
Tuesday, September 3
Odisha FC – 2 (Hugo BOUMOUS 16’ 62’)
Brisbane Roar – 1 (Thomas WADDINGHAM 66’)
