Melbourne Victory and Adelaide United have shared the spoils in a one-all draw in Launceston in Round One of the Pre-Season Cup.

Danny Allsopp was the saviour for the “home” team, cancelling out Travis Dodd’s ninth minute opener with a powerful strike in the seventy-fourth minute of the game.

Kaz Patafta, Ljubo Milicevic, Matthew Kemp and Joseph Keenan all lined up for Victory for the first time in a competitive match, but new Costa Rican recruit, Carlos Hernandez, did not make the trip following an arduous journey from his homeland to Melbourne on Friday. The only other absentees for Melbourne were Qantas Socceroo Archie Thompson, who appeared as a second half substitute for Australia in its 3-1 Asian Cup defeat to Iraq, and Grant Brebner who was sidelined with a groin injury.

Adelaide was without a number of key players for the Pre-Season Cup opener due to injury and suspension, including former Victory midfielder, Kristian Sarkies. However, Adelaide still possessed plenty of attacking fire power with Travis Dodd, Nathan Burns and Bruce Djite all lining up for the Adelaide team.

Victory dominated the early stages, amassing a great deal of possession, but creating little in the way of scoring chances in the opening ten minutes.

Dodd then delivered a characteristic Adelaide sucker punch against the run of play. Bruce Djite flicked a ball over the top of the Victory defence, leaving Dodd one-on-one with an exposed Michael Theoklitos in the Melbourne goal, and the United forward made no mistake from the edge of the area to register the opening goal of the game.

The goal lifted Adelaide who began to exert control in the midfield, and Dodd again came close in the thirteenth minute hitting a powerful drive on the turn from distance which sailed narrowly over the crossbar.

United’s new Brazilian import Cassio also came close for the visitors with a strike of his own on eighteen minutes, before Adrian Caceres produced Melbourne’s best chance of the half two minutes later. New recruit Ljubo Milicevic floated a superb pass over the Adelaide defence which found Caceres in space inside the penalty box with enough time to fashion a shot on goal which Robert Bajic did well to get down low to save.

Former Adelaide United fullback Matthew Kemp had a chance to punish his former club on the half hour mark, but his rasping drive from the edge of the penalty area was deflected away off the head of Les Anastasiou.

Melbourne had another chance to equalize on the stroke of half-time, but captain Kevin Muscat’s free kick curled inches over the crossbar.

The half time break was highlighted by local fan Mario, who proposed to his girlfriend Patricia in front of the crowd of around 8,000. A huge cheer greeted her acceptance.

Both sides remained unchanged after the half time break, but within ten minutes Melbourne Coach Ernie Merrick replaced midfielder Steve Pantelidis with defender Daniel Piorkowski.

Despite the game being played largely in Adelaide’s half, it was the visitors who came closest to adding to the scoreline early in the second half. A free kick on the edge on of the box on fifty-five minutes was whipped in across the face of goal, with Adrian Leijer nipping in ahead of Les Anastasiou to clear the danger.

Melbourne responded well Joseph Keenan hitting a scorching drive three minutes later which Bajic saved well down low. Soon after, Leigh Broxham, a sixtieth minute substitute for Patafta, did well to find Caceres in an attacking position, but the linesman’s flag was raised for offside.

Melbourne had a scare on sixty-seven minutes, after Adrian Leijer gave away a free kick outside the Victory penalty box. Cassio stepped up and thundered a shot against the crossbar which rebounded harmlessly off the crossbar for a goalkick.

Victory made the breakthrough with fifteen minutes remaining. Broxham delivered yet another quality pass for Keenan on the left, who squared for the advancing Allsopp. The Hyundai A-League’s 2007 Golden Boot winner smashed home the equalizer to the delight of the crowd, the majority of which were firmly behind their adopted home team.

Victory had one last chance to snatch maximum points, but Rodrigo Vargas was unable to direct Muscat’s last minute free kick on target, leaving referee Angelo Nardi to bring proceedings to a close after three minutes of stoppage time.

Details:

Melbourne Victory 1 (Allsopp 74’)
Adelaide United 1 (Dodd 9’)
Date: Sunday 15 July 2007
Venue: Aurora Stadium, Launceston
Referee: Angelo Nardi
Crowd: Approx 8,061

Melbourne Victory: 1.Michael THEOKLITOS (gk), 2.Kevin MUSCAT (Captain), 4.Adrian LEIJER, 5.Ljubo MILICEVIC, 6.Steve PANTELIDIS (3.Daniel PIORKOWSKI 53’), 7.Matthew KEMP, 9.Daniel ALLSOPP, 11.Joseph KEENAN, 12.Rodrigo VARGAS, 13.Kaz PATAFTA (18.Leigh BROXHAM 61’), 14.Adrian CACERES
Substitutes Not Used: 20. Eugene GALEKOVIC (gk).

Yellow Cards: Ljubo Milicevic 58’, Kevin Muscat 85’.

Adelaide United Squad: 20.Robert BAJIC (gk), 2.Richie ALAGICH, 6.Cassio, 10.Nathan BURNS, 11.Bruce DJITE, 13.Travis DODD (Captain), 16.Bobby PETTA, 17.Isyan ERDOGAN (15.Jonas SALLEY 61’), 22.Diego (21.Jason SPAGNUOLO 80’), 24.Les ANASTASIOU (18.Robert CORNTHWAITE 75’), 25.Milan SUSAK

Substitutes Not Used: 30.Lucas ANDRUCCI (gk).

Yellow Cards: Milan Susak 63’.