Miron Bleiberg's men dominated the match and will feel the margin of victory should have been greater after enjoying the lion's share of possession and creating a number of good chances in the first 45 minutes.

Mebrahtu's decisive strike came on the quarter-hour, the youngster skipping round Fury ‘keeper Justin Pasfield and finishing calmly after Joel Porter's precise through ball opened up the visitor's defence.

Porter was a pivotal figure in the first half, spearheading the attack and always in the thick of the action as Gold Coast looked to press home their advantage. He came closest to adding to the scoreline on the stroke of half time with a jinking run and shot that Pasfield did well to save, and was unlucky moments earlier when Fury defender Eric Akoto blocked his goal-bound snapshot.

The second period began as the first had ended, with United on the front foot and looking odds-on to increase their lead. Half-time substitute Shane Smeltz engineered an early chance for the excellent James Brown, then soon after menaced the Fury defence again with a surging run, but failed to trouble Pasfield with his shot.

A neat Porter/Smeltz combination almost yielded another goal for Gold Coast, while at the other end, Caravella headed clear a dangerous cross when under pressure from Gareth Edds.

With the clock ticking down, Miron Bleiberg introduced another of his young strikers, with last season's Youth Team leading scorer, Chris Harold, entering the fray.

Harold almost made an instant impact with his pace too hot to handle for the Fury rearguard when he burst clear and forced Pasfield into a fine stop as he bore down on goal.

Just minutes later Harold was threatening again. Free of his marker once more, the youngster clipped the ball into the path of Smeltz, whose shot was blocked by the desperate Fury defence.

Solid performances from defenders Dino Djulbic and Adama Traore pleased United Head Coach Miron Bleiberg, with new goalkeeper Glen Moss rarely tested by the visitors. But the majority of the plaudits were reserved for Joel Porter, who revelled in his new central role at the point of the Gold Coast attack.

"Joel was brilliant in the first half and played like an out-and-out centre-forward. He caused them lots of trouble, was strong on the ball and could have had a couple of goals if he'd been more selfish. I was very, very happy with him," said Bleiberg.

"With a bit more sharpness in front of goal the margin could have been bigger, but I'm pleased overall. Fury were well organised and put us under a bit of pressure in the second half, so it wasn't easy.

"But Golgol Mebrahtu took his goal well and came of age a bit tonight. He showed he can hold his own in the Hyundai A-League, as did Chris Harold who looked sharp when he came on.

"This was our last official game before the start of the season and we only have internal games left between now and when we take on the Roar on 8 August, but I'm pleased with where we are and we still have a number of players to come back into the squad, like Robson, Steve Pantelidis and John Curtis, etc."

GOLD COAST UNITED 1 (Mebrahtu 15')
NORTH QUEENSLAND FURY 0
Referee: Matt Gillett