After netting just two goals from their its opening two trials, United managed to find the back of the net four times against Raiders, with Kristian Sarkies, Robert Cornthwaite, Michael Marrone and Travis Dodd all getting on the score sheet.

Although the Reds were dominant on the scoreboard, the contest was a highly competitive affair, with an exuberant Raiders outfit making United earn the result, the match providing coach Aurelio Vidmar with just the type of hit out he was after.

"It was important for us that Raiders put on a good show and they were really intense throughout the 90 minutes so that made it a very good hit out for us," Vidmar said.

"It was a much better performance than last week so we're certainly moving forward. That's what we want and the majority of players got close to playing 90 minutes which is important at this stage."

Also pleasing for Vidmar was the 20 minutes of game time new season signing Adam Hughes played, the midfielder making his first appearance for the Reds after recovering from a minor injury strain that kept him out of the opening two trials.

"He (Hughes) felt alright so it's really pleasing that he could have a bit of a run. Most players had a decent hit out and it was also important to score some goals," Vidmar said.

In front of a healthy crowd at Croatian Sports Centre, Sarkies opened the scoring in the 19th minute after latching onto the end of a Scott Jamieson cross before Cornthwaite volleyed home from 6m out off a corner to double United's advantage going into half time.

Raiders pegged one back through a Mimi Saric penalty on the hour mark but two United goals in the final 10 minutes put the result beyond doubt.

In the 80th minute Marrone's persistence paid off after he made a weaving run down the right hand side into the penalty area, his initial shot kept out before he managed to knock it in on the follow up.

Dodd then capped the night off, converting a penalty in the 88th minute after Reds youth team hopeful Joe Wright was brought down in the box.

Vidmar admits there is still a lot of work to do before the start of the A-League season but he is confident that his squad is on the right track following the performance against Raiders.

"It's going to take time and we're still waiting for Lloyd (Owusu) to come into the country so we can't work with everybody yet, but there are another seven weeks to go and just this week we started to really knuckle down and work on our structure and that's what we'll continue to do," Vidmar said.

Adelaide United's first test against A-League opposition comes on June 26 when the Reds take on Perth Glory at Hindmarsh Stadium. Kick-Off is at 7.30pm (ACST).

Match Details
Raiders 1 (Saric 60' (pen))
Adelaide United 4 (Sarkies 19', Cornthwaite 35', Marrone 80', Dodd 88' (pen))
@ Croatian Sports Centre