MVFC Blog

The Melbourne Victory and Queensland Roar youth teams met this afternoon in Green Gully Reserve for the opening match of the A-League National Youth League. It was the visitors who went home with the points, with Queensland’s Joshua McVey and Mitch Nichols giving the Roar a 2-0 win.

Melbourne’s performance was promising but frustrating. Our overage players - Steve Pantelidis, Steven Pace and Daniel Vasilevski - shored up the defence, along with Robert Wynne and Cameron Drake, two solid centre-backs. Matthew Theodore gave a convincing performance as an attacking midfielder, but was rarely able to connect with the front pairing of Nathan Elasi and Dimitri Hatzimouratis. Nor was Ante Cicak, who worked the left flank but was unable to find the precision needed in the final third.

Nathan Elasi had Melbourne’s best chance with an opportunistic volley in the 38th minute. It beat Griffen McMaster, but hit the post, landing for Steven Pace, whose shot was stopped by McMaster. Beyond that excellent attempt, the Victory struggled to make a real impression in attack, only managing a handful of shots from distance, which were easily stopped by McMaster and his replacement, Luke Muir.

Queensland looked the more dangerous side at the start, but were kept quiet by a strong Victory defence. Josh McVey quickly made an impression after he was subbed on at the start of the second half, with a lovely strike putting his side in front after 48 minutes. 15 minutes later, Mitch Nichols took advantage of a goalkeeper mistake, beating Mijo Marinovic to give the Roar a strong lead. Isaka Cernak, from the senior team, looked incisive in midfield when he came on for the final half hour.

The game’s lowest point came in the final ten minutes, when Queensland’s Ben Griffin received a straight red card for pushing Milos Lujic in the face. What that suspension will do to his chances of playing in the A-League, I’m not sure, but it was sad to see one of the overage players acting so unprofessionally.

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