Brisbane Roar overcame a scrappy first half to beat Sydney FC 3-1 in the National Youth League.
Brisbane Roar put a scrappy first half behind them to overcome Sydney FC 3-1 in the National Youth League at Goodwin Park on Saturday afternoon.
Sydney striker Mitchell Mallia was the stand-out player in the first 45 minutes, capping a fine performance with the goal which gave his side the lead going into the break.
Brisbane came out firing in the second stanza, however, with Patrick Theodore, Kwame Yeboah and Benjamin Liftin all getting on the score sheet in a superb 12-minute spell for the home side.
After an opening 15 minutes in which the hosts dominated possession, Sydney almost opened the scoring from a long throw into the Brisbane box. Mallia let the ball cross his body before smacking a shot at Roar goalkeeper Fraser Chalmers, who had trouble hanging on to it but eventually cleaned up.
The Roar’s Kenneth Dougall skimmed the post with a header after 21 minutes, leaping high to get on the end of a Rocky Visconte corner.
The bustling Mallia continued to trouble the Brisbane defence throughout the first half.
His low shot on 29 minutes was palmed just wide by Chalmers. Soon after, he had the ball in the back of the net after a barging run, but the referee called it back for a foul on the goalkeeper.
Mallia finally broke through to open the scoring after 37 minutes. Getting on the end of a Lukas Stergiou through ball, he poked his shot home to put Sydney ahead 1-0.
Roar captain Corey Brown was replaced by Theodore just after half time, and the substitute made an immediate impact, netting the equaliser after a weaving run down the left.
In the space of two minutes, Brisbane surged to a two-goal lead.
Yeboah smacked a left-footed shot into the roof of the net after making space for himself in the box to put the Roar in front for the first time.
A minute later, Liftin played a lovely one-two with Anthony Proia before firing past Sydney goalkeeper Anthony Bouzanis to make the score 3-1.
Sydney were unable to recover from the triple blow, and the best chances in the remainder of the match went to the Roar’s Proia and the excellent Liftin.
Brisbane Roar 3 (Patrick Theodore 53, Kwame Yeboah 64, Benjamin Liftin 65)
Sydney FC 1 (Mitchell Mallia 37)
Brisbane Roar: 1. Fraser Chalmers (gk) 3. Corey Brown (c) (7. Patrick Theodore 49), 4. Lachlan Jackson, 5. Sam Cronin (16. Joe Franze 45), 9. Benjamin Liftin, 10. Kwame Yeboah (5. Sam Cronin 79 int), 11. Anthony Proia, 12. Cameron Crestani,13. Kenneth Dougall, 14. Rocky Visconte, 17. Alex Schiavo (18. Max Brown 58)
Sydney FC: 1. Anthony Bouzanis (gk) 2. Keifer Dotti, 4. Robeto Speranza (12. Lukas Stergiou 58) 6. Hagi Gligor (c), 7. Joshua MacDonald, 8. Terry Antonis, 9. Nikola Taneski (11. Tom Slater 58), 10. Christopher Naumoff, 14. Jared Lum, 15. Mitchell Mallia (9. Nikola Taneski 71 int.), 17. Theo Kofinas
