The coaching partnership of Stuart McLaren and Luciano Trani, the captaincy reign of Peter Grierson and the NSL career of young forward Luke Morley all got off to flying starts today as the Brisbane Strikers gave Northern Spirit a 3-1 touch-up in Sydney.

Yesterday, in our match preview we asked "can the Strikers go south and do what Spirit did to them a year ago?". The answer was an emphatic "yes" as McLaren’s written-off side delivered its first two-fingered salute of the season to its critics, and spoiled the party for the Sydney side which was playing its first game at its new home ground, Pittwater Park.

Two first half goals by 21-year-old debutant Luke Morley, who joined the Strikers from Taringa Rovers only six days ago, saw the Strikers go to the break 2-0 ahead. John Hutchinson grabbed one back for the home team eight minutes after the restart, but Morley’s equally young forward partner Josh Rose restored a two goal break for Brisbane with his 62nd minute goal.

Morley, whose perfectly taken two-goal haul in last week’s final pre-season hitout at Toowoomba impressed some keen judges among Strikers supporters, apparently struck with similar chilling efficiency today. His first was a low, hard shot to apply the finishing touch to a Rose square pass, and his second was a neat finish to a Shane Stefanutto cross.

Rose got his reward for setting up Morley’s first when he was able to capitalise on a defensive error before shooting past Spirit’s goalkeeper Paul Henderson for the clincher.

The two goal winning margin sees the Brisbane side go top of the NSL table after round one, and provides a welcome morale booster ahead of next Saturday’s clash with Sydney Olympic at Perry Park - its first at the "home of Queensland soccer" for eight seasons.