The LG Joeys claimed a comfortable 5-2 win over the visiting Japanese Under 17 team in the second of their two warm-up friendlies leading to next Wednesday night's World Cup playoff match, to be played at the same ground.
The Joeys will fight either New Zealand or Vanuatu for the single Oceania place in the Finals which will be held in Trinidad and Tobago later this year.
"Tonight was an improvement on last Sunday", said LG Joeys coach Ange Postecoglou. "We saw an improvement from the boys."
On the tighter pitch, one which heavily suited the close-nit play of the Australians, the Japanese were rarely given a chance to trouble Nathan COE's goal. The movement of the ball left their opponents just watching, and only for the breakdowns in the final third were the Australian's not more dominant.
The first goal came following a Japanese attack when at one end Yutaro ABE played a one-two with Hiroto MOGI to get in behind the Joey's defence. The low cross however was cleared from the six-yard box and sent down the left where Brett HOLMAN played a give-and-go with Carl VALERI finding himself in the penalty area and sending his low shot past Atsushi KIMURA.
Australia was trying out some different combinations in the backs and this allowed the Japanese to produce some chances, yet it was a clear mix-up between Rodney MADIGAN and Matthew HUNTER which saw the two sprawled on the ground as ABE accelerated away feeding MOGI for a clinical finish to tie up the scores.
The setback was only temporary and soon forgotten as the Joeys returned to their dominating style of play. At the half-hour mark they had restored their lead. A cross from Anthony DANZE took an early deflection causing KIMURA no end of problems. His mishandling of the ball provided Fred AGIUS with the easiest of tap-ins.
Japan came out much the hungrier at the beginning of the second half but were denied of a second equaliser through some excellent keeping from COE. A Kazumazu TAKAGI low cross was hit first time by MOGI only to be saved well by the spread-eagled COE. MOGI had a shot a few minutes later which saw COE pass the ball by his post for a corner.
Then at the other end a corner for the Joeys was taken by Massimo MURDOCCA on the left. It met a crowd of bodies and was bounced back towards goal from the shoulder of Kisho YANO. Terry SMITH reacted first to change the ball's direction using his chest and giving the substitute keeper Nobuhiro KATO no chance.
Amidst a flurry of substitutes from both sides (in the end, it was eight substitutes each), the Joeys extended their lead. A freekick from the left by MURDOCCA squeezed through a herd of players to find SMITH at the far post. His low cross was deflected in by Matthew ENGELE with YANO making a brave attempt to clear the ball off the line.
With a quarter of an hour left Japan doubled their score. Kohei KUDA robbed Steven BAVEAS of the ball close to the Australian's goal and laid it off for Naoya KIKUCHI to finish superbly.
The final goal came five minutes later when the old "route one" saw a long kick from COE fall near the opposing penalty area. Takahito FUKUO tried to head the ball away but saw it fall invitingly to ENGELE who from within the penalty area easily lobbed the stranded KATO.
Whilst obviously happy with the result Postecoglou sees there is still some work to do. He is further hoping that Sean WALSH may become available for the upcoming home and away clashes in the next few weeks.