Melbourne Victory and Melbourne City progressed over Balmain Tigers and Edgeworth FC respectively in Tuesday night’s FFA Cup action.
Aaron Mooy spared City’s blushes with two free-kicks to salvage a 2-1 win, while Victory had it much easier, triumphing 6-0 over their opponents.
With the A-League clubs still in the early stages of pre-season, both coaches used the opportunity to give game time to some youth team players amongst the first team regulars.
For Victory, former Green Gully defender Thomas Deng, who has previously been involved in the first team, made his senior competitive debut and played the full 90 minutes.
He featured in a makeshift back four, partnering Daniel Georgievski in central defence, with Jason Geria in right back and Scott Galloway on the left.
Whilst he didn’t have much defending to do on the night, he was assured at the back and distributed neatly to his teammates.
George Howard made his A-League debut as a substitute late last season, and once again came off the bench on Tuesday, replacing Besart Berisha in the 67th minute.
The 19-year-old was immediately in the thick of the action, tapping in Khalfallah’s assist for a 70th minute goal – continuing on from his good NPL form, netting 10 times in 2015 – before returning the favour with a cutback to the Tunisian, who did the rest with a strike from the edge of the area.
GOAL! George Howard scores! FBK with the run & pass for Howard to put away #BALvMVC 0-5 #MVFC #FFACup pic.twitter.com/WdeOamRhji
— Melbourne Victory (@gomvfc) August 4, 2015
18-year-old Kieran Dover also came off the bench late for his first piece of senior action since his A-League debut against Sydney FC in Round 6 last year, once again having little time to make an impact.
A photo posted by Melbourne Victory (@gomvfc) on
For Melbourne City, many of the youngsters that featured in the friendly against Manchester City on the Gold Coast also debuted in the FFA Cup.
Wade Dekker started in his first senior game since securing a one-year contract with the club, with the central striker position still currently vacant since Josh Kennedy’s retirement.
However, the 21-year-old Northcote City product couldn’t emulate his NPL form where he’s scored 10 goals, unable to find the back of the net, though he was involved in decent link-up play for a few chances.
Former South Melbourne winger Stefan Zinni – son of former Socceroo Andrew – also started the contest and worked hard, showing pace in the front third and having a couple of efforts on goal.
He was replaced with just over 20 minutes to go by Ali Eyigun – who played at Pascoe Vale last season – but like most of the team, he wasn’t able to help the side unlock a resilient Edgeworth.
Tonight’s debutants with their match shirts. Congrats Wade Dekker, Phil Petreski, Ali Eyigun and Stefan Zinni! pic.twitter.com/KtRamOMkZ6
— Melbourne City FC (@MelbourneCity) August 4, 2015
Macedonian youth international Phil Petreski, a youth team stalwart after being at the club since the 2011-12 season, got on the pitch just before time, and he’ll be hoping to push his case for more first team appearances as the season wears on.
Meanwhile, 20-year-old ex-Port Melbourne forward Luka Prelevic didn’t see any game time off the bench.