Harry Kewell made his Melbourne Heart FC debut as the Red and White cruised to a 12-0 win over a La Trobe University XI side on Wednesday afternoon at Epping Stadium.
Harry Kewell made his Melbourne Heart FC debut as the Red and White cruised to a 12-0 win over a La Trobe University XI side on Wednesday afternoon at Epping Stadium.
David Williams scored five goals, while Dylan Macallister netted four, triallist Billy Konstantinidis bagged a brace and Iain Ramsay scored a solitary goal in Heart-s second pre-season hit out.
Promisingly for Heart, Mate Dugdanzic was lively down the right wing in the first half and provided five assists, while Kewell appeared in the second 45 minutes and set up two goals.
While the score line was comprehensive for the Red and White, the hit-out provided Head Coach John Aloisi with the opportunity to test out potential structures in either half and allowed recent off season signings, including goalkeeper Tando Velaphi, Kewell and Rob Wielaert, minutes in a game scenario.
The match also gave the La Trobe University XI side the opportunity to face A-League opposition in the lead-up to their upcoming tournament at the Australian University Games and represented the strong ties between the Club and the University.
Only six players from Heart-s 4-1 win over GNEFA All Stars – the Club-s first pre-season clash – started against La Trobe University.
Those six were Patrick Gerhardt, Jason Hoffman, Sam Mitchinson, Massimo Murdocca – who was handed the captain-s armband for the hit out – Dylan Macallister and David Vrankovic.
Dudgandzic, Williams, Velaphi and triallists Konstantinidis and Paulo Retre constituted the remaining players in Heart-s starting line-up.
A four goal spree in the space of four first half minutes saw Heart surge to a 4-0 lead by the 14th minute, as Williams notched his hat-trick within that period, and Macallister, deployed as a central striker, chimed in with his first.
Williams added a fifth for Heart, and his fourth in the 18th, before Konstantinidis grabbed a double, scoring in the 21st and 33rd minutes.
The ever-present Williams rounded out the half with his fifth to take the score line to 8-0 at the break.
Heart made five changes at the turnaround, replacing Velaphi, Mitchinson, Hoffman, Vrankovic and Konstantinidis with Andrew Redmayne, Aziz Behich – who appeared for the Red and White for the first time since returning from Bursaspor – Jeremy Walker, Wielaert and Kewell.
Heart-s momentum slowed in the second period as the team restructured after the changes; however, Aloisi-s side maintained the majority of possession.
Heart added four goals in the final 25 minutes, with Macallister rounding out his four-goal tally with a second half hat-trick, either side of a goal from substitute Ramsay.
Match Details
Wednesday 7 August 2013
Melbourne Heart FC 12 (Williams 10-, 12-, 14- 18- 38-, Macallister 11-, 65- 67- 90-, Konstantinidis 21-, 33-, Ramsay 85-)
La Trobe University XI
Epping Soccer Stadium
