United were 1-0 down at the break but rallied in the second period to come from behind and win with goals from Andrew Barisic and defender Ben Wearing.

United NYL Coach Mike Mulvey could only field three substitutes with the services of Gol Gol Mebrahtu required in the senior side following the late withdrawal of Tahj Minniecon with an ankle injury.

After a nervous start by both sides, United settled well and began to play some nice football that almost brought reward.

Chris Harold's menacing run and shot was well saved by Alex Pearson in the Perth goal and moments later Reuban Way tested Pearson once again with a strike from a narrow angle after some neat work on the right hand side.

Just before the half hour mark the home side began to come back into the match and turned their possession into the opening goal when Ryan Edwards found himself on the end of a deep cross to the far post and nodded gleefully past United custodian, Robbie Bajic.

In the second period Gold Coast Youth completely dominated their hosts and deservedly drew level with 20 minutes to go when Andrew Barisic burst through the home defence only to be felled unceremoniously by Sebit Oyet.

Oyet was given his marching orders by the referee for his aberration, but Barisic dusted himself down to smash the resulting penalty past Pearson.

It seemed only a matter of time before Gold Coast hit the front and it was no surprise when Steven Lustica's far post free-kick was headed high into the roof of the net by Ben Wearing to give the visitors the lead.

Barisic and Perth's Ryan Pearson were both sent off in the dying minutes after a brief scuffle, but it made little difference to the result with only acrobatics from Perth 'keeper Pearson keeping United at bay as they threatened to increase their lead.

Coach Mike Mulvey said he was delighted with his side's commitment and quality, especially as they came from behind to register a victory.

"We showed patience and belief so I think it was a well deserved victory in the end," Mulvey said.

"It took us a while to get used to each other and play as a unit, but once we did I thought we did very well.

"We played some good football and showed great character to come back from a goal down, so overall I'm very pleased with our first game. We will be all the better for this run together and there are some good signs there for us."