Western United opened the 2024/25 Isuzu UTE A-League Men with a positive display on the road, earning a point in a 1-1 draw with Wellington Phoenix.
Kosta Barbarouses opened the scoring right before the half-time whistle but United remaining on the front foot across an impressive overall performance.
The dam wall was finally broken with 15 minutes to play when Angus Thurgate thumped a strike into the bottom corner, giving United a deserved point and plenty of encouragement to take into a huge home opener against Western Sydney Wanderers at Ironbark Fields.
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John Aloisi had some injury difficulty to deal with on opening day with new captain Ben Garuccio missing out after succumbing to a late groin injury. Charbel Shamoon started at left-back in his place.
Tate Russell and Hiroshi Ibusuki made their Western United league debuts while Matthew Grimaldi and Oliver Lavale joined Shamoon as Academy graduates in the starting line-up.
First Half
Western United made a positive start in the game, gathering plenty of possession and looking to find space in attack.
The Green and Black spent most of the opening 20 minutes in the attacking half and tested Wellington’s defence with a couple of set pieces before the hosts began to work their way into the game.
Barbarouses flashed an effort wide of the post just after the 20-minute mark but United quickly regathered and if not for a timely clearance from Tim Payne, Ibusuki may well have been in for his first Western United goal.
United continued to look comfortable in possession but both sides defended well to limit each other’s chances of creating any clear-cut openings.
That was until the home side delivered a sucker punch right on the stroke of half-time when Barbarouses stabbed home from close range after a flick on from a set piece.
Second Half
The second half began a little bit all over the place as Barbarouses made himself a nuisance running in behind, scooping one effort over the crossbar and colliding with Matt Sutton in the box on another occasion.
United then put the press on at the other end and Joshua Oluwayemi was nearly left red-faced when he blasted a clearance straight into Scott Wootton, but the Wellington keeper was able to readjust and clasp the ball in his hands to prevent a comical own goal.
Aloisi’s men continued to push for a route back in the game while managing Wellington’s threats the other way, closing those lanes for Barbarouses to run in behind.
As the game entered its final 10 minutes, a mixture of fresh legs from the bench and growing intensity in search of the equaliser gave the Green and Black a lift.
Thurgate continued to receive a lot of the ball and found a fantastic opening when he turned sublimely between two defenders at the top of the box.
After playing in substitute Noah Botic, Thurgate continued his run to get back on the ball from the cutback and blasted a fantastic finish into the bottom corner.
United’s tails were up and Grimaldi and Lavale stayed active in the final third, both firing towards goal soon after but failing to hit the target.
There was also a piece of history late on as Dylan Leonard came off the bench to make his Isuzu UTE A-League debut, becoming the Club’s youngest ever men’s player at 17 years and 51 days old.
The Green and Black continued to be the more ambitious side in the dying embers of the contest and finished the game with a dangerous corner delivery from Abel Walatee, but there was no winner forthcoming as the points were shared.
