The Melbourne Victory and Queensland Roar youth teams met this afternoon in Green Gully Reserve for the opening match of the A-League National Youth League. It was the visitors who went home with the points, with Queensland’s Joshua McVey and Mitch Nichols giving the Roar a 2-0 win.

Melbourne’s performance was promising but frustrating. Our overage players – Steve Pantelidis, Steven Pace and Daniel Vasilevski – shored up the defence, along with Robert Wynne and Cameron Drake, two solid centre-backs. Matthew Theodore gave a convincing performance as an attacking midfielder, but was rarely able to connect with the front pairing of Nathan Elasi and Dimitri Hatzimouratis. Nor was Ante Cicak, who worked the left flank but was unable to find the precision needed in the final third.

Nathan Elasi had Melbourne’s best chance with an opportunistic volley in the 38th minute. It beat Griffen McMaster, but hit the post, landing for Steven Pace, whose shot was stopped by McMaster. Beyond that excellent attempt, the Victory struggled to make a real impression in attack, only managing a handful of shots from distance, which were easily stopped by McMaster and his replacement, Luke Muir.

Queensland looked the more dangerous side at the start, but were kept quiet by a strong Victory defence. Josh McVey quickly made an impression after he was subbed on at the start of the second half, with a lovely strike putting his side in front after 48 minutes. 15 minutes later, Mitch Nichols took advantage of a goalkeeper mistake, beating Mijo Marinovic to give the Roar a strong lead. Isaka Cernak, from the senior team, looked incisive in midfield when he came on for the final half hour.

The game’s lowest point came in the final ten minutes, when Queensland’s Ben Griffin received a straight red card for pushing Milos Lujic in the face. What that suspension will do to his chances of playing in the A-League, I’m not sure, but it was sad to see one of the overage players acting so unprofessionally.

The new kids on the block are Cameron Drake, Milos Lujic, Dimitri Hatzimouratis and Qantas Young Socceroos Mathew Theodore and Ante Cicak.

The Victory youth team now comprises 12 players, with the club allowed to bring in four overage players for matches.

The Melbourne Victory plays the Queensland Roar at Green Gully Reserve on Friday, kick-off 3:30 pm.

Melbourne has signed Matilda’s goalkeeper Melissa Barbieri, who becomes the first signing for the Victory’s inaugural W-League team. Barbieri was on Melbourne’s medical staff three years ago when the league kicked off.

Earlier this year, she made headlines when she signed with the Richmond Eagles and became the first Australian woman to play in a professional men’s football team.

The W-League doesn’t start until late October, so the club still has ample time to assemble a full squad.

Meanwhile, Mehmet Durakovic’s youth team is close to complete after the club signed seven players this week. The Victory has signed Mijo Marinovic, Robert Wynne, Antonio LaVerde, Aziz Behich, Matthew Foschini, Stephen Hatzikostas and Fabio DiLizia.

Harzikostas and DiLizia both come over from the Victorian Institute of Sport, while the remainder have been sourced from various Victorian Premier League sides. They are aged between 16 and 19.

“He’s going to various places over the course of the next seven days to look at a few different players. We’re not going to discuss where he is, that just complicates things.”

Cole can retain his silence, but it seems likely that Merrick’s sojourn is to Central America – with a particular emphasis on Costa Rica (update: Costa Rican press confirms this). Both Windell Gabriel and José Luis López have been rumoured to be in negotiations with the Victory, with Carlos Hernández putting in a good word for his countrymen. Seven days should be more than enough for Merrick to check out some of the other talent pools around Central America. I’ve heard particularly good reports about Honduras, and Mexico seems like another place worth scouting out.

One thing Cole is willing to confirm is that the club only has one available visa spot “at the moment.” So if Merrick is indeed in the Americas looking for talent, what of the Ney Fabiano rumour? Or perhaps the club intends to bid farewell to one of its current crop of international players?

In other coaching news, former Socceroo Mehmet Durakovic has been made coach of the Victory’s inaugural Youth League team. As Assistant Coach will be Steve Mautone, the current goalkeeping coach and third ‘keeper for the ACL campaign, who will be Assistant Coach.

Trey O’Sullivan is the kid, and if he does indeed become a member of the Victory’s youth team, he will certainly be the youngest player in the league. The bulk of the players for each youth team are to be aged between 16 and 21, with four older players allowed. The seven Australian A-League clubs will participate.

Games for the Youth League may be played before or after A-League matches, or at separate locations. There are no plans to broadcast the matches.

For a deeper insight into the Youth League, check out The Football Tragic posts on the subject here and here.

ps. The Melbourne Victory website has a video of Trey, which you can download.