South Australia’s captain Michele Lastella almost opened the scoring for the hosts after six minutes when the ball sat up nicely for him on the edge of the area, after theOlyroos failed to clear, but his volley flew narrowly over the bar.

Jason Hoffman went close a few minutes later for the Olyroos, charging down a clearance from the South Australian goalkeeper Takumi Takahashi only to see the rebound spin past the post.

The Australian Under 23s controlled much of the game but struggled to break down a resilient South Australian defence.

On the half hour, Olyroos captain Oliver Bozanic clipped the woodwork from 20 metres out with a powerful low drive that had Takahashi beaten. Shortly after, at the other end of the field, South Australian striker Calvin Mbarga also saw his close range effort smack into the upright.

The scores were locked 0-0 at the break and it took almost 15 minutes before the first real chance of the second half was registered.

Marko Jesic pounced on a defensive error and fired a hard and flat effort goal bound but Takahashi was equal to the task

Just after the hour Olyroos coach Aurelio Vidmar made five changes and it was substitute Mate Dugandzic who was next to go close for the Qantas Australian Under 23s.

Dugandzic collected the ball 30 metres from goal, turned and hit a low, hard drive that just whizzed past the South Australian goal.

The best chance of the match fell to Hoffman in the second minute of injury time when the striker beat the substitute South Australian goalkeeper Ben Moore, but his effort from the edge of the area hit the post and bounced away from goal.

After the game, Vidmar said he was happy with the hit-out and what he saw from his team.

“It was good to have a solid run against good opposition tonight and we thank FFSA and Joe Mullen for the match,” said Vidmar.

“Although there were no goals I was pleased with some aspects of how we played and the opportunities we created, but we still need to work on a few things.

“Most importantly we have no injury concerns coming out of the game. We’ll now have a good week of training before we face the UAE next week.”

The Qantas Australian Under 23s will continue training in Adelaide ahead of their AFC Asian Qualifiers for the 2012 London Olympic Games match between against the UAE next Wednesday.

The match will be broadcast live and exclusive on Fox Sports.

Match Details

Qantas Australian U23s            0
South Australian Select Team  0
Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
Referee: Regis Queffelec
Assistant Referees: Paul Cetranglo & Curtis Wordsworth
Crowd: 600 approx

Qantas Australian U23s line-up: 1.Andrew REDMAYNE (gk) (18.Mark BIRIGHITTI (gk) 46’), 2.Mitch NICHOLS (5.Mate DUGANDZIC 60’), 3.Diogo FERREIRA (4.Scott NEVILLE 60’), 9.Sebastian RYALL, 11.Oliver BOZANIC (c), 12.Matthew JURMAN (6.Daniel MULLEN 60’), 13.Matthew FOSCHINI (10.Rhyan GRANT 60’), 14.Jason HOFFMAN, 15.Marko JESIC, 16.James BROWN (8.Ben KANTAROVSKI 60’), 17.Aziz BEHICH,

Substitutes not used: 7.Kofi DANNING

Head Coach: Aurelio Vidmar

South Australian Select Team line-up: 1.Takumi TAKAHASHI (Ben MOORE 61'), 2.David MENECHELLA (Adam HARRIS 61'), 3.Michael D'ALOSIO (Todd McSORELY 45'), 4.Michele LASTELLA (C), 5.Lee ROBERTSON, 6.Adam VAN DOMMELE (Michael PAPACHARALAMBOUS 75'), 7.Shane TOBIAS (Steven GRELLI 45'), 8.Ermias HAILE (Luke KLIMEK 61'), 9.Calvin MBARGA (Anthony SOLAGNA 78'), 10.Parys OKAI, 11.Scott TUNBRIDGE

Head Coach: Joe Mullen