THE Miron Bleiberg-led Gold Coast Representative side gave an impressive showing against the Hyundai A-League professionals at Burleigh Heads Soccer Club last night, coming away with a creditable two-nil deficit against Frank Farina’s men.
In atrocious wet conditions following a day of persistent rain, the Gold Coast more than held their own against a Queensland Roar side that contained the majority of its first team regulars.
In front of a remarkably large gathering of football die-hards Roar midfielder Massimo Murdocca opened the scoring late in the first half with a tremendous 20-metre strike that flew into the net.
Minutes later Dutch trialist Sergio van Dijk doubled Roar’s lead with a simple tap in and there the scoring ended as the Gold Coast select more than held their own.
With previous trial games against local Brisbane sides resulting in a goal-fest, Roar Coach Frank Farina told the Gold Coast Bulletin last night’s game was a good hit-out for his players.
“Overall this was a good run out for the boys in terrible conditions against a pretty good local side,” Farina said.
Counterpart Miron Bleiberg was understandably pleased with the performance of his part-time players who had only minimal time to train together.
“We worked hard and nobody could fault our work rate. It was a good exercise in very difficult weather and our players did very well against a squad of professionals,” Bleiberg said.
“I couldn’t have asked any more from the players and they should be proud of their efforts,” he added.
