Western United put in an excellent display to defeat St Albans Saints 8-0 in a behind-closed-doors friendly at Ironbark Fields on Saturday.
John Aloisi deployed two different outfield line-ups in each half, but there was no change to the intensity and exuberance either side of the interval.
Angus Thurgate and Jake Najdovski struck in the first half either side of an own goal before a younger line-up put the foot down in the second period.
Luke Vickery scored twice alongside strikes from Abel Walatee, Nicolas Koek and Mark Leonard as United capped off a superb performance in its first pre-season friendly.
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First Half
Sutton (GK); Russell, Imai, Donachie, Garuccio; Bozinovski, Thurgate; Danzaki, Najdovski, Grimaldi; Ibusuki
Western United looked to get immediately into the ascendancy, but St Albans made a positive start themselves until the Green and Black eventually emerged as the dominant team.
Hiroshi Ibusuki was involved early on in his first start in United colours, and the Japanese striker had a key hand in the opener after latching onto a through ball from Rhys Bozinovski.
Sent wider than he perhaps would have liked, Ibusuki gathered the ball and found Matthew Grimaldi who in turn teed up Thurgate to step onto the ball and thump it into the roof of the net from the edge of the area.
Ibusuki then came close to scoring twice after linking up with countryman Riku Danzaki on both occasions, but each team St Albans were able to get in the way and clear the danger.
Rhys Bozinovski was buzzing about in midfield with his customary energetic style and Grimaldi was behind much of United’s positive play going forward, racking up his second assist of the game in quick fashion.
This one brought an exclamation point to another swift team move as Grimaldi fired the ball across goal on his left foot, leading to a combination of St Albans defence and goalkeeper bundling the ball over the goal line.
Grimaldi and Garuccio were in fine form on the left-hand side and when the former fed the latter towards the byline, Jake Najdovski was arriving at the near post to score with a cheeky chested finish.
Matthew Sutton remained largely untroubled in goal with James Donachie providing the most important bit of rearguard action, sliding to make a block after St Albans had entered the penalty area.
Second Half
Sutton (GK); Nasso (75’ Obani), Coveny, D.Leonard, Shamoon; Pasquali, York; Vickery, M.Leonard, Walatee; Koek
Aloisi shuffled the pack at half-time, but if anything the injection of young talent served only to increase the tempo of his side’s play.
Within minutes of the restart, Luke Vickery burst by his defender and picked out Abel Walatee who controlled sublimely on the swivel before burying his finish into the corner.
That was the first of many brilliant moments in an individually dominant half from Vickery, who took charge himself with a rifled finish from an angle on the right-hand side, an effort that was too strong for the goalkeeper on its way into the net.
The goals kept coming as the youngsters went for the kill, and Walatee was involved again after weaving in and out of the defence before eventually squeezing the ball through to Nicolas Koek, allowing the striker to prod into an empty net.
Walatee hit the post soon after, as did Luka Coveny when he took the opportunity to head up for a corner with both he and Dylan Leonard commanding proceedings at the back.
Dylan’s brother Mark was putting himself about in the final third and, after some excellent work by substitute Tobey Obani, got himself a goal when he pounced on a loose ball in the box.
James York was tremendous in midfield alongside Sebastian Pasquali who rattled the post with a free-kick before United reloaded and won a penalty after Vickery was unceremoniously taken out in the box.
Not content with his solitary goal to that point, Vickery took responsibility himself and oozed assuredness from 12 yards, slotting into the bottom corner.
The referee blew the final whistle as soon as Vickery’s effort hit the net, bringing to an end a thoroughly productive afternoon’s work for Western United.
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