Football
2020-21 Australian A League, Elimination Finals
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Juric double sees Adelaide beat Brisbane Roar in Elimination Final

A Tomi Juric first-half double has secured Adelaide a historic first A-League finals victory outside South Australia, defeating Brisbane 2-1 at Redcliffe.

The ex-Socceroo scored two goals in four minutes early in the first half to send the Reds into next weekend's semi-finals and eliminate the Roar.

Brisbane did all they could to get back into the match in a dominant second-half display but only had substitute Alex Parsons' 56th-minute header to show on the scoreboard at fulltime.

Reds coach Carl Veart, who travelled to Queensland without winger Craig Goodwin after the fringe Socceroo suffered an injury in training on Saturday, was delighted by his team's resilience in the face of the Roar's second-half onslaught.

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"We want to win something and I challenged the playing group that as a club we haven't won an away final in our history," Veart said. "They did that today. It was fantastic.

"They (the Roar) were tremendous in that second half. The pressure they put us under, we just couldn't get out of our half and couldn't keep the ball. I can't thank the boys any more."

Juric, who hadn't scored in his past five appearances, broke the drought in the 15th minute when he latched onto a Ryan Strain long ball and coolly finished past Roar goalkeeper Jamie Young.

One became two four minutes later when Juric turned Roar captain Tom Aldred inside his own half before sprinting clear and again slotting expertly past Young.

"We knew that he would come good, the goals he scored, that's why we got him here and he stood up in a big game," Veart said of his big striker.

Roar coach Warren Moon defended his decision to pick Aldred despite the English defender looking out of sorts having struggled with a hamstring injury in the past two months.

"The actual second goal itself was really disappointing from a team perspective that we were pretty disappointed about," Moon said. "I'm not here to hang out any individual. Was he ready? Well he put his hand up to play and said he was and we believed he was."

The Roar threw everything at Adelaide in the second 45, with Dylan Wenzel-Halls, Riku Danzaki and Golgol Mebrahtu all going close to finding an equaliser.

Moon said ultimately his team had paid the price for their poor start despite their second-half effort.

"In any match in the A-League this season, let alone a final or a semi-final, you can't start slow and credit to Adelaide they got the jump on us," Moon said. "I'm very proud of my boys but ultimately right now it's an empty feeling. We're disappointed, we're pretty devastated in that change room."

The Reds will now face back-to-back champions Sydney FC in a semi-final at Netstrata Jubilee Oval on Saturday.

Veart said while Goodwin had been cleared of any fracture to his injured ankle, he was set to have scans on Tuesday and is unlikely to feature against the Sky Blues.

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