The Brisbane Strikers got their Premier League campaign underway in the best way possible this afternoon, coming away from Wynnum with a convincing 2-0 victory over the Brisbane Wolves.

In the best tradition of that humorous old cliche, the game was truly one of two halves as a strong sou’ easterly breeze did much to dictate the flow of the game. After playing into the breeze in a scoreless first half, the Strikers rode it home with a commanding second half performance. Two goals to Greg Di Losa made the difference between the two sides on the scoreboard, but in reality it probably could have been more if the Strikers’ finishing had been as good throughout the match as Di Losa’s two strikes were in the second.

The Strikers took the field with what appeared to be a 3-5-2 formation, as coach Bobby Hamilton looked for a line-up that would get around the problems caused by having several first-choice defenders unavailable. Dimitri Theochari performed a sweeping role, with Jamie Lowndes to his left and Adam Webber on his right. A five man midfield of Brad Stevens, Damien Waugh, Nathan Carloss, Stuart Drinkeld and Michael Butters provided the buffer between the back three and Greg Di Losa and Russell Woodruffe up front.

At this point, we should say that we would like to be able to tell you who the Wolves were using in their various positions, but our unfamiliarity with the players and the fact that the published team sheet was obviously wildly astray in its allocation of numbers to the Wolves players makes this impossible. Suffice it to say, though, that the Wolves were using a very similar formation to the Strikers, which meant that space and time in midfield were in short supply in the early part of the game.

But the game was anything but a dull midfield battle. In fact, it was only two minutes old when Butters played a one-two with Nathan Carloss that finished with Butters running unopposed towards the Wolves’ goal with only their goalkeeper, Adrian Ghidella, to beat. Perhaps the surprise of finding himself in this position so early in the game weighed on his mind but, whatever the cause of Butters’ indecision, Ghidella was able to get down to Butters’ feet and take the ball without the midfielder having produced a shot.

Only a minute later, a Strikers’ corner kick taken from the right was headed out to Jamie Lowndes, whose first-time shot was driven narrowly over the Wolves’ crossbar. The Wolves then registered their first serious shot on goal in the fifth minute when Matt Seib produced a scorching grass-cutter from a direct free kick which went too close for comfort to the right-hand upright of Antony Hall’s goal.

The visitors, though, were having much the better of general play in the first quarter of the match. A decent contingent of Strikers supporters who had turned up (and seemed to outnumber the Wolves supporters) had probably expected a scratchy and hesitant start from their team, some of whom could barely have been on first name terms, but they weren’t getting it. The back three were looking comfortable and there were several sharp interchanges of passing and quick switching of angles between the midfielders and forwards which were causing the Wolves problems.

It was a simpler, ‘route one’ move, though, that nearly put the Strikers in front in the fifteenth minute when Carloss, breaking forward from midfield, got in behind the Wolves’ back line as he chased a well-flighted long ball. Carloss won the race to the ball, but his firmly struck shot went wide.

The Wolves, however, stepped up their efforts midway through the half and began to push the Strikers back into their own territory. And, while they seldom threatened the Strikers goal from general play they managed to force a series of corner kicks (some eight or nine in all) from which they most certainly did threaten. First, a goal-line clearance was forced when an outswinging corner was headed goalwards past Hall. Then, in the thirty-sixth minute a nasty inswinger, whipped in by one of the Wolves’ contingent of Korean imports, was met around the six-yard box by a solid header from a Wolves player. The ball travelled with great velocity towards Hall’s goal and looked unstoppable, only for Hall to climb high and produce superb reflexes to tip the ball over the bar. It was the save of the match, and one that would have graced any football field in the world.

In amongst the growing Wolves’ dead-ball barrage, the Strikers managed to create a further chance for Woodruffe, who did well to win a hip-to-hip chase with a Wolves defender for a through-ball, before rounding the defender only to fire his shot wide of goal.

The first half ended with honours even, both on the scoreboard and in general terms. But with the wind behind them in the second half the Strikers took to the task with renewed purpose and completely dominated the last forty-five minutes.

The right-hand channel, where Butters (who possesses deceptive pace) was working with Carloss and Drinkeld, was proving particularly productive for the visitors. The fifty-fifth minute produced a sign of things to come when Butters skinned his defender near the touchline and sent a looping cross beyond the far post where Di Losa got in a header which was well smothered by Ghidella.

Five minutes later, a virtual action replay produced the opening goal. Butters, withstanding some rugged tackling, again got past his man and produced a very similar cross which Di Losa, with a slightly better angle this time, buried with aplomb to register the first ever goal by the Brisbane Strikers in the Premier League. Di Losa, who had been suffering a barren spell in pre-season fixtures, picked himself up and charged towards the supporters on the touchline, right arm wheeling around in a jubilant goal celebration.

Hamilton then went to his bench for the first time, bringing on Ross Duncan for Brad Stevens on the left side of midfield. In the sixty-fourth minute Woodruffe again was played into space in the penalty area, only to fire his shot into the chest of the advancing Ghidella.

But while Woodruffe could not find the right finishing touch, he was causing plenty of problems for a Wolves defence that was by now making heavy weather of things. Three minutes later, a muffed clearance by an isolated Wolves defender fell to Woodruffe, who laid a simple ball off to Di Losa. Di Losa advanced on the unprotected Wolves keeper and slid the ball to his left to tuck it low into the goal for what would prove to be the clincher.

The Strikers were by now completely on top in the contest, and Hamilton brought off Woodruffe to give Brad Hicks a run. The flow of the contest was uninterrupted, though, as Di Losa now turned provider with an athletic over-the-head pass behind himself to put Waugh into the clear. Ghidella, though, was again up to the task and managed to spread his big frame to smother Waugh’s goalbound shot.

It took the Wolves thirty minutes to managed their first, and only, shot on goal for the second half but it was comfortably saved, and by this stage the result was in no doubt. . Butters was next replaced by David Thomas as the Strikers continued to push for a third goal, only to be met by some overly-vigorous defending as the Wolves began to lose their discipline. There were a few unsavoury incidents in the final ten minutes, the worst of which resulted in Hall being sent temporarily to Disneyland when collecting a high ball beneath a big Wolves striker who went through with a challenge he was never going to win. The same forward had, only minutes earlier, escaped without caution after a heavy tackle on Theochari but this time earned himself a yellow card from a referee who had run out of patience.

After a few minutes of treatment, Hall recovered to play out the game with a clean sheet and, perhaps, to reflect upon a most satisfactory performance in his first game as captain of the Brisbane Strikers. The final whistle was blown amid appreciative cheers and applause from the Strikers supporters, and after swapping the customary "well played’s" in the middle of the park the Strikers players left the field to file past and applaud their supporters.

Coach Bobby Hamilton and his players will probably be reflecting tonight on a job well done, with three points in the bag from a performance that was probably better than even they might have expected. The makeshift back line, in particular, can take a bow and Di Losa’s two-goal effort at the sharp end can only augur well for a player who looked down on confidence before the season began.