Ross Aloisi has praised his spirited Brisbane Roar side for fighting back against Macarthur FC to kickstart his A-League Men tenure with a 1-1 draw on the road.
In sapping conditions at Campbelltown Stadium on Saturday afternoon, Aloisi’s men repelled a second-half Bulls onslaught with Jay O’Shea pulling Brisbane level late in the piece.
Raphael Borgues Rodrigues gave Macarthur the lead in the 52nd minute, but Aloisi’s youthful squad continued to dig in and got their reward when O’Shea fired a free kick past Bulls goalkeeper Filip Kurto.
The Roar were a surprise package en route to reaching the final of the Australia Cup and Aloisi believes they have the right attitude to continue on an upward trajectory.
"I'm extremely proud of all the young lads that we've got on the team and the senior players who really fight for one another," the Roar boss said.
"It's a tremendous group and I'm really enjoying the football that we're playing.
"We created a lot of good goalscoring opportunities and they caught us on the counter - there weren’t too many times that they played through us."
Macarthur midfielder Kearyn Baccus had a shot cleared off the line in the opening minutes of the game and the Bulls would have felt hard done by to not have walked away with the win.
Clayton Lewis’ cross found Raphael at the back post and the former Melbourne City man marked his debut with a well-taken header soon after the halftime break, but the home side butchered a handful of chances to double their lead.
With 20 minutes to go, Bulls boss Mile Sterjovski subbed off captain Ulises Davila and experienced midfielder Baccus.
Lachlan Rose and Jake Hollman were thrown into the action but Hollman was made to rue a clumsy challenge on Brisbane’s Florin Berengeur on the edge of the penalty box soon after coming on.
With a crowded box and the sun beaming in his eyes Kurto was unable to pick out O’Shea’s free kick and the ball rippled the back of the net to earn a point for the visitors.
"I don't think they should have even had that free kick in my opinion," Sterjovski said.
"There's a lot of bodies in there and I think it is difficult for any keeper.
"The better chances fell to us and it’s disappointing we didn’t put them away."
