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With Socceroos coach Graham Arnold watching on from the stands, the A-League Men All Stars have thrashed a youth-filled Newcastle United outfit 8-0. Wellington’s Ben Old scored in the fifth minute with the impressive Nicolas Milanovic (Western Sydney) adding a second 20 minutes later.
Socceroo Adam Taggart netted in the 34th minute at Marvel Stadium while Newcastle Jets gun Apostolos Stamatelopoulos, eyeing a maiden national call-up, scored in the 62nd and 74th minutes. Jake Hollman, Jordan Courtney-Perkins and Bozhidar Kraev scored late to round out the thrashing.
Bayern Munich-bound Nestory Irankunda, arguably the headline act, was surprisingly limited to a 20-minute cameo off the bench by All Stars coach Patrick Kisnorbo – but was electric once called into the action.
Newcastle’s senior players largely departed after Wednesday night’s friendly with Tottenham at the MCG while Kisnorbo fielded an experienced team.
After debuting against Spurs, fringe Socceroos youngster Garang Kuol started Friday evening’s game and showed some glimpses of form for his English club. It was otherwise a rough game for a young Newcastle team that was often physically bullied by the All Stars’ plethora of experienced heads.
Kuol started on the left and nearly slipped through Jay Turner-Cooke in the third minute. But then the All Stars took control.
Sydney veteran Rhyan Grant released Milanovic, who cut the ball inside for Mathew Leckie. The Socceroo turned away from Newcastle’s defenders and under pressure, forced it to Old to finish first-time.
Twenty minutes later, Dylan Charlton mis-hit his attempted clearance straight into the path of Milanovic, who stuck out a foot and turned the ball home. Then, Western United midfielder Angus Thurgate intercepted a poor pass out of defence and knocked the ball forward for Taggart. Under no pressure, the Perth Glory star picked out his spot and buried a fierce strike into the bottom corner.
The All Stars broke through again when Stamatelopoulos, who replaced Taggart at half-time, burst forward, leaned back and ripped a shot into the bottom corner.
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Irankunda entered the fray in the 71st minute and had an almost immediate impact. The teen sensation was released down the right, burst forward and squared the ball for Stamatelopoulos to tap home his second.
Kuol should have had a late penalty when he was cut down by Scott Wootton but nothing was forthcoming. Irankunda played a role in Hollman’s goal in the 82nd minute, before Courtney-Perkins and Kraev completed the rout.
