The Subway Joeys have started their PacificAus Sports Football Tour with a hard-fought loss against the Solomon Islands U-19.
An opening goal by Anthony Didulica was not enough as a strong second half saw Abraham Morgan and Paul Francis take victory for the Solomons.
With a clear age difference on the park, the Australian U-17 squad faced a new kind of challenge in a match that is planned to play an important part of their development ahead of upcoming crucial qualifiers.
“This game is exactly what we needed, I feel. It was a great contest for our players,” said head coach Brad Maloney.
“The opposition is the Solomon Islands full U-19 national team, so some of those players are four years older than our guys. It was a really good test for our players, and it was physically challenging as well.
“We wanted the players to have that physical contest, and we wanted to play older age groups, so this was perfect for our preparation. If we look ahead to our AFC Asian Cup qualifiers coming up in October, our players will have learned a lot out of these matches, and it will put them in good stead for those qualifiers.”
Maloney’s side dominated the opening exchanges and almost took the lead after a few seconds, with Akol Akon putting his shot over the bar after a deflected cross caused confusion in the box.
Australia continued to control territory and create chances throughout the early exchanges with Jay Maltz instrumental in winning possession and launching fresh attacks.
Maltz’s contribution soon turned into the opening goal as the defensive midfielder won the ball in Australia’s back third and slipped the ball to Daniel Matina to launch a clinical counter-attack.
Medina skipped past a would-be defender in a 40-metre run upfield before playing a through-ball to Didulica who put his first time finish between the Solomons keeper and the far post to take the lead.
“I thought we started the game really well. We got our noses in front, and we had a few other half chances that we should have done better with, but the first half was pleasing,” said Maloney.
“We controlled a lot of the possession, defended really well, and took one of our chances.
“Anthony’s goal was something that we worked on at training the other day. It was good combination play, featuring a break from our back third, a great little run from Anthony, who finished it perfectly. It was nice to see him rewarded for those efforts.”
Australia’s period of dominance was slightly halted with the home team creating two quick chances in succession: a one-on-one opportunity thwarted by an impressive Jonty Benfield save, and a bicycle kick that brushed the crossbar.
Still, the Subway Joeys finished the half strongly and should have taken a 2-0 lead into the sheds when a sloppy clearance by a Solomons defender allowed Didulica a shot from point blank range. Unfortunately for the young striker, his shot hit the keeper’s leg which was enough to deflect it onto the left upright.
Solomon Islands came out of half time full of high-intensity pressing and almost had an immediate equaliser, only for Benfield to make another crucial save to keep Australia’s lead.
But the older outfit were not to be denied, equalising in midway through the second period after a sustained period of pressure. Paul Francis’ corner kick flew beyond the far post, perfectly timed to meet the run of Abraham Morgan who hit a first-time finish into the back of the net.
With a vocal home crowd and momentum from the equaliser, the Solomon Islands U-19 quickly took the lead when Francis turned from provider to goal scorer.
Jimson Abana outmuscled Zayd Kassaby to latch onto a clever James Laena flick-on and centred the ball for Francis to tap-in to an empty net to win the game, sending the thousands of local fans into passionate celebration.
“The crowd and the atmosphere was fantastic, and it’s something that our players aren’t really accustomed to, so that experience will benefit the players moving forward. Once we go into the bigger tournaments in AFC, they will have that experience behind them,” said Maloney.
“As they did during the second half tonight, the Solomon Islands will come out again firing in game two. We’ve got to be prepared for that. The purpose of this tour is also to rotate players and provide opportunities. 50% of the squad on tour are new to the group, and it’s important for us to give them that exposure and see how much they can learn from these matches playing against older players.”
Match two of the series is on Sunday 18 August at 7:00pm (local) / 6:00pm AEST and will be broadcast live and free on the Football Australia YouTube channel and Solomon Islands Football Federation Facebook page.
Source: PacificAus Sport
