ADELAIDE United boss Aurelio Vidmar vowed to get back to basics after his side became the first A-League club to lose to competition new boys North Queensland Fury, going down 3-2.
Young midfielder Joe Costa and Alemao struck for United but it wasn't enough as former Reds players Fred Agius and Jason Spagnuolo came back to haunt their old club, Agius scoring a double.
On a warm night in the Northern Territory capital, United fielded a side without a host of senior players due to injury, and their cause was not helped when Kristian Sarkies also pulled out just prior to kick-off.
Adelaide United started well in the opening 10 minutes as they took it to Fury, but against the run of play it was North Queensland who took the lead. An Osama Malik effort was palmed away by Mark Birighitti, who played the full 90 minutes in goal, the ball falling to the feet of Spagnuolo who side stepped an opponent and slammed it home.
Seven minutes later United found themselves two down when Agius lined up a free kick from outside the box and managed to beat Birighitti.
It may have been a friendly by name but both sides approached the match as if there were points at stake, the Fury determined to prove themselves against last season's Hyundai A-league grand finalists.
Five minutes before the break Costa scored his first senior goal for The Reds after some fine lead up work from Travis Dodd, the Reds captain finding Matthew Mullen, whose attempted shot somehow fell to Costa who in turn tucked the ball away from an acute angle.
A goal down at the break, Vidmar was disappointed with his side's first half performance despite United being somewhat depleted.
"We need to go and do a fair bit of work. Even though we had players missing, that's no excuse," Vidmar said. "Some of the basics were poor, sure the conditions were tough but that's all a part of what we're going to get confronted with in the A-League."
United's equaliser arrived five minutes into the second half when Dodd was the instigator again as he spotted up Alemao, who weaved his way through the Fury defence before playing a delicate one two with Lucas Pantelis, the latter back heeling the ball for the Brazilian to coolly slot it away and make it 2-2.
Both sides continued to make changes in the uncomfortable top end conditions, and Fury's winner came on the hour mark from yet another free kick, Agius sending his shot over the wall and into the back of the net.
The Reds did not lie down though and in the 70th minute were unlucky not to equalise again, Costa scoring his second as he struck the ball home from close range following another superb Dodd assist, however the 16 year old was adjudged in a dubious offside decision.
North Queensland held on to notch up the win, and speaking after the game, Vidmar applauded the Fury for being extremely competitive but he also admitted his side still needed to put in a lot of work before their opening game of the Hyundai A-League season on August 7.
"We need to get together again as a group, get back to training and start getting the basics right," Vidmar said. "We just need to regroup, get everyone fit and on the park and continue moving forward."
Match Details
Adelaide United 2 (Costa 40', Alemao 50')
North Queensland Fury 3 (Spagnuolo 15', Agius 22'/60')
Crowd: 2,547 @ Darwin Football Stadium
Adelaide United squad: 1.Eugene GALEKOVIC (gk), 2.Robert CORNTHWAITE, 3.ALEMAO, 4.Iain FYFE, 7.Lucas PANTELIS, 10.Adam HUGHES, 13.Travis DODD, 14.Scott JAMIESON, 17.Michael MARRONE, 20.Mark BIRIGHITTI (gk), 23.Joe COSTA, Joel Allwright*, Matthew Mullen*, Alex Sunasky*.
* Youth League players
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