sport, football, liaoning whowin, chinese super league, robbie kruse, james holland, Daniel McBreen

EDGEWORTH coach Damian Zane was surprised with the lack of attacking threat from Chinese Super League club Liaoning Whowin but still proud of the defensive effort from his side in a 2-2 draw on Wednesday night. For the second time in three nights, Liaoning, featuring Socceroos James Holland and Robbie Kruse and with a roster reportedly worth $67 million, could not topple their Northern NSW National Premier League rivals in trial matches. Broadmeadow defeated Liaoning 2-1 on Monday night at Magic Park and the Eagles, the  two-time defending NNSW NPL champions, looked more than capable of repeating the dose at Jack McLaughlan Oval.    Edgeworth led through a Keigo Moriyasu goal but Liaoning led 2-1 at half-time after goals from Kruse and defender Lang Zheng before Daniel McBreen equalised with a 35-metre shot over the keeper. The Eagles finished strongly against the lacklustre Liaoning but could not find the winner. Zane was impressed with his side’s attack, after they forced turnovers in midfield, and with their defence, which featured 17-year-old Kieran Hayes marking Kruse. “I thought they lacked a few ideas to break us down, to be honest,” Zane said. “I was a bit surprised, but in saying that, I’m not going to sell my boys short because they’ve done it before and defended well against a side like Melbourne City [in the 2015 FFA Cup] and in the national [NPL] finals.” Kruse said Liaoning, who play Sydney on February 19 then the Jets on February 22 before their season starts on March 3, showed the signs of a heavy workload. “Pre-season is pre-season and it’s all about getting ready and fit for the first game of the season,” Kruse said. “We’ve been training hard with a lot of double sessions and the weather has been quite hot too. It takes its toll, but we feel good and I think we’ll be OK for the first game of the competition.” As for playing NPL opposition, he said: “It’s always good, they are always fired up and it’s very different for the Chinese teams playing here, so it’s a good hit out.” Liaoning captain James Chamanga hit a shot over the crossbar in the 10th minute and Ni Yusong hit the side netting in the 17th but Edgeworth struck first. Moriyasu, who was second in the NNSW NPL player of the year count last year, put the hosts in front in the 24th minute when he finished a one-on-one chance after a well-worked attack that started near halfway. The visitors scored in the 31st minute through Kruse, who put Liaoning on the attack before getting the ball back and beating goalkeeper Nate Cavaliere. An unmarked Zheng gave Liaoning a 2-1 lead in the 37th minute with a strike at the far post from a corner after Edgeworth failed to clear. Edgeworth were unchanged into the second half but Liaoning brought on former Newcastle Jet Holland, who almost gifted the Eagles a goal in the opening minutes. His wayward pass fell to Holz in front of goal, but he was wide with his strike. New Eagle Kieran Sanders had a great opportunity to equalise only a few minutes after coming on but his shot in the 66th minute was cleared off the line by a defender. Edgeworth, though, found the leveller in spectacular fashion in the 70th minute through McBreen. McBreen went close to a winner in the 82nd minute when his desperate shot while lying on the pitch hit the post. Holz had another chance in the 88th minute when put away on goals, but the Liaoning defence scrambled well. Zane was pleased with the performance in the second half, especially given the Eagles were trialing a change in formation with two up front. ”I thought we were a bit sloppy but we tried a new formation that I plan to start working on more this week,” Zane said. “We had only one session with it and this game came along. “I tossed around whether to try it but the season is getting close, so I thought why not. “I thought the second half we were a lot more fluent and our understanding of the system is only going to get better. “There were a few things we need to work on defensively but our structure was never going to be perfect. “There are similarities to what we did last year but differences and we’ll work on them. “I thought everything I said at half-time, I noticed an improvement on them, so that was good.” Liaoning are staying in the Hunter Valley vineyards for three weeks on a pre-season training camp and have games scheduled against A-League and semi-professional teams.

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