Young Teeboy Kamara was the star of the show as Adelaide United Youths eked out a hard fought 2-1 win over Melbourne Victory at Kingston Heath. The Liberian born forward tormented the Victory defence throughout the match, terrorising the defenders with his speed and having a hand in both Adelaide goals.

The home team fielded a stronger than usual lineup for once, with senior players Isaka Cernak, Jean Carlos Solorzano and Marco Rojas adding vital steel to a winless Victory side. Adelaide had responded in kind, including overage players Cameron Watson, Evgeniy Levchenko and Ricardo DaSilva. Lawrence Thomas returned to the home side in goal after sitting on the senior bench the day before, while Rojas was deemed fit for a run out after coming on as a late substitute at Docklands Stadium.

For all the talk about the senior players though, it was Teeboy Kamara who kicked off proceedings by finding space for a shot in only the third minute. Thomas was equal to the task however, saving well from the Reds forward. Melbourne weren't going to take things lying down though, as they moved the ball down the pitch before James Jeggo skied his shot.

Rojas was penetrating well down the left flank, running at Adelaide and leaving his markers spinning in his wake, also testing goalkeeper Mark Birighitti with a shot on goal in the tenth minute. Things settled down a little after the opening flurry, with most of the battle being fought out in midfield. Victory coach Darren Davies seemed nonplussed at his team's play so far, screaming at the Jeggo brothers (Luc and James) at one point, "Two Jeggos, what are you doing?"

Kamara was stretching the Melbourne defence with his running off the ball by this time, but it was still apparently not up to Adelaide coach Michael Valkanis's high standards and heated words were exchange between the lad and the bench at one point.

Solorzano was grafting away on his own up front and a chance was to be had when Luke O'Dea sent him free in the 23rd minute. The Costa Rican striker scampered towards goal with a marker close by, but his shot from the right fizzed across the face of the goal and out for a goal kick.

O'Dea had been nursing a sore ankle from an earlier knock, and things took a turn for the worse in the 34th minute. The forward was rapped on the ankle and crumpled to the turf, before signalling to the bench that he was unable to carry on. His day was over as winger Melvin Becket was introduced in his place.

Isaka Cernak had been showing some skill when in possession of the ball, and finally managed to spot some space opening in front of him in the 37th minute. A blistering run brought him into the box, but he stumbled at the crucial moment and Rojas overran the resulting ball before it was cleared.

Halftime was beckoning, but there was still time for one final chance as Melbourne failed to clear their lines. The ball finally rolled out to Cameron Watson who attempted a lobbed shot at goal that bobbled just off target.

Changes were made at the start of the second half as both teams decided that fresh legs were needed. Rojas, who had started well but faded as the game proceeded, was subbed off for Daniel Chabaani. Adelaide brought on Dion Kirk and Jonathan Mavromatis for Shaun Harvey and Levchenko respectively. Luc Jeggo was taken off 12 minutes later for Hernan Espindola as the stalemate continued.

It didn't last long however for just a minute later, Adelaide were a goal up. Kamara did all the hard work once again, leaving the Victory defenders for dead before squaring the ball to Watson for a simple tap-in. Victory very nearly pulled a goal back as James Jeggo once again showed off his shooting from range, with a dipping ball arcing toward the top corner of the Adelaide net. Goalkeeper Birighitti was on task once again however, leaping high and to his left for a fine parry to safety.

Adelaide found themselves at a numerical disadvantage shortly after as Anthony Golec received a straight red card for allegedly denying a clear goal scoring opportunity. It was a chance for the home side to capitalise, but instead they seemed to lose concentration as Teeboy Kamara decided to turn on the magic again.

66 minutes into the game, Kamara received a long lob from his own half to start a counterattack. Victory fullback James Riccobene failed to spot the danger in time despite his coach yelling from the sidelines, forcing Chabaani to race across to cover. Unfortunately, this left a yawning gap in the centre and Dion Kirk made no mistake after receiving the pass into the box from Kamara. 2-0 to Adelaide.

The home side sensed that time was running out and coach Davies made an audacious move, pushing Chabaani up forward and leaving three in defence. It was risky, but it paid almost immediate dividends. A Paulo Retre cross into the box was brought down expertly by Chabaani and with the Adelaide defenders standing off, the makeshift forward had all the time in the world to finish low past the goalkeeper's right.

With the deficit halved, Melbourne Victory went for broke as the time clock ticked down. Teeboy Kamara was not going to go down without a fight though, bursting free once again and forcing yet another fine save from Thomas with his left foot effort.

From a corner kick to Melbourne in the 81st minute, the ball bounced around madly in the box before Melvin Becket went down from an apparent shove. There were surprisingly no appeals for a penalty however, and the referee looked nonplussed.

Hernan Espindola almost took matters into his own hands with a mazy run, before being blocked off by a sea of red-shirted defenders. His reckless tackle from behind in an attempt to regain possession was a sign of the team's growing frustration, and also earned him a yellow card from the referee.

It was literally end-to-end action in the last ten minutes, as Solorzano stung Birighitti's gloves with a rasping shot, while Kirk's attempt after a one-two with Kamara was well blocked by Thomas. Teeboy's speed on the counter was causing plenty of problems with Melbourne's high defensive line, and Adam Nakic did well to clear the ball into touch as the Adelaide player put on the afterburners again to easily zoom past Espindola.

In the end, the three minutes of added time was not enough and Adelaide hung on for the narrow win, with Birighitti helping out a little with a yellow card in the dying seconds for time-wasting.

Davies:

Melbourne Victory Youth Coach Darren Davies was not mincing his words following the defeat, the team's eight in a row since the season began. "We conceded two very sloppy goals and that was the most disappointing aspect for me. Because I think the goals we conceded were sloppy goals and we haven't learnt our lessons… is the reason we conceded those goals which I was not happy with," he said. "I think that was a game that we shouldn't have lost. All season we've been getting better and better and I think this weekend, we should have turned our performance into a result."

Davies had nothing but good words for Adelaide starlet Teeboy Kamara though, praising his performance in the match. "I know Teeboy from the AIS and he's certainly a very good player, especially for his age. He's big, he's strong, he's aggressive, he creates chances and yeah Teeboy's a good player," Davies gushed. "As soon as I saw him, I knew we were going to be in for a tough ride and so it proved. I think he set up the two goals and we obviously didn't handle him as well as we should have to be honest."

Man of the Match: Teeboy Kamara (Adelaide's No. 9 (centre in photo below))

The Australia U-17 prospect was involved in almost every one of his team's chances, his size and speed causing all sorts of problems for the home side. If he keeps his temperament in check, he could well turn out to be a very good player indeed.

Melbourne Victory Verdict:

Coach Darren Davies was furious post-game and for good reason. This was as good an opportunity as any for Victory to put some points on the board, but the players failed to capitalise. Performances had been improving steadily up to this point, but this loss was one that could have been avoided.

Adelaide United Verdict:

Adelaide will have been pleased with the win that moved them up to eight place in the table. They didn't do much wrong and with Teeboy Kamara having a storming game, Golec's dismissal was hardly felt. Holding out for the win in the end will have given the team lots of confidence.

Crowd Watch:

A surprisingly healthy number of teenagers in the crowd, along with a vocal supporter who decided to start coaching the Victory team from the stands in the last five minutes. As always, there were a few kids having a kickabout of their own!

Breaking news: (15/12/2011) - Adelaide United FC is set to field the youngest player to ever grace the Hyundai A-League, after confirming 15 year old Liberian refugee Teeboy Kamara has been included in the Reds’ squad to take on Gold Coast United tomorrow night (HAL R11 Friday 16 December, 2011. (16/12/2011) - He came on in as a substitute for Zenon Caravella in the 63rd minute and didn't look out of place.

Details: National Youth-League, Round 8:

Saturday:
10 Dec - 3:00pm - Gold Coast United FC 3 - Sydney FC 1 - Owen Park, Southport
10 Dec - 4:00pm - Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) 0 - Newcastle Jets FC 4 - AIS Athletics Track, Canberra

Sunday
11 Dec - 10:00am - Perth Glory Youth 2 - Central Coast Mariners 1 - 6PR Stadium, Inglewood
11 Dec - 2:30pm - Melbourne Victory FC 1 - Adelaide United FC 2 - Kingston Heath, Cheltenham
11 Dec - 3:00pm - Brisbane Roar FC 2 - Melbourne Heart FC 5 - Cleveland Showgrounds, Cleveland