Soccer: First-joust loss for Knights

Queensland Roar 2 NZ Knights 0

Two late Queensland Roar goals dashed the hopes of a brave and battling New Zealand Knights team in their A-League debut in Brisbane yesterday.

The 2-0 win for the home side in front of a crowd of 20,725 was the first by a favoured team on opening weekend.

For the Knights' coach, John Adshead, and his players it was a big step up from what they had shown pre-season.

Overshadowing the home side in the corner count, and matching them in shots on goal for the first hour or so, the visitors flagged only in the last 10 minutes and were punished, first by a spectacular snap shot from ever impressive Alex Brosque and, five minutes later, when Michael Baird swooped on a gift-wrapped back pass from Jeremy Christie.

"It was a hell of a step up [from what we had shown earlier]. It just went wrong at the end," said a philosophical Adshead. "I thought our defending in the back third in the first half was of the highest quality.

"Three-quarters of the way through the game we were in the position we wanted to be, but just when we looked to push on we lost John Tambouras. We were then hit by a fantastic goal and hurt further when we gave the ball away and conceded a second."

Sean Devine had a goal disallowed when referee Matthew Breeze ruled against his challenge on goalkeeper Tom Willis a minute after Brosque's opener. It could have earned the Knights a well-deserved point.

With Jonathan Richter showing his pace on the right and Hyuk-Su Seo controlling the midfield, the Roar played much of their football going forward. But, with a busy Ronnie Bull at left back, Danny Hay and Tambouras in the central defensive positions and Darren Bazeley on the right, clear-cut opportunities were limited.

Josh Maguire, Josh Rose and Neil Emblen had half chances for the Knights in the first spell and Sean Devine (twice), Rose and substitute Zenon Caravella went closest in the second.

Upsets marked the opening day of the league with Central Coast Mariners captain Noel Spencer stunning 11,113 fans in Perth with his rocket-like 65th minute strike as the visitors went on to take a 1-0 victory.

It was a similar story in Newcastle where the favoured Jets also went down 1-0 to John Kosmina's Adelaide United. The biggest crowd of the round (25,208) yesterday saw Melbourne Victory come from a goal down to draw 1-1 with league favourites Sydney FC. Dwight Yorke got the home crowd cheering with his 44th minute opening goal but they were silenced when Archie Thompson equalised in the 72nd minute.