United's performance was much improved from the one that resulted in a 3-2 defeat last Wednesday, with Miron Bleiberg's men more organised and playing with higher intensity.

The decisive goal came in the 70th minute when Brazilian midfielder Robson picked out Steve Fitzsimmons with a superb cross-field pass. Fitzsimmons headed the ball into the path of Michael Thwaite whose shot from the edge of the box was too hot to handle for the New Caledonian 'keeper and Mebrahtu was on hand to knock home the loose ball.

It was a deserved win for United but New Caledonia also had their moments in another tough encounter for Bleiberg's men, a fact recognised by the Gold Coast Head Coach after the game.

"I thought we deserved to win the game and approached this one a lot better than last time, but again all credit to New Caledonia because they were very organised, disciplined and played some good football. Make no mistake about it, they are a good side and they have surprised us," he said.

"We took the first game against New Caledonia too easy and paid for it. This time we had more intensity and took the match more seriously, which was pleasing.

"It was only our second game of pre-season and we've used a lot of our young players, so it's been a good exercise for us and we're starting to find our legs.

"We've tried a few things tactically and put some very good match fitness into our players which was the whole idea of coming over here."

Despite the slippery conditions Gold Coast found their rhythm early on with youngster Mitch Bevan, Matt Osman and James Brown all going close in the first period.

Fitzsimmons' weaving run at the start of the second half almost bore fruit, as did Minniecon's deft chip that just cleared the crossbar, but in the end Mebrahtu's strike was the only one that counted.

Gold Coast return to home soil today (Sunday) before heading west late next week to prepare for their next pre-season outing, this time against A-League rivals Perth Glory in Newman, WA, on Saturday night (19 June).