The Wanderers have produced a promising performance in Saturday night’s overseas pre-season hit-out, narrowly falling 1-0 to Indonesian heavy weight Persib Bandong in front of a lively crowd at Gelora Bandung Lautan Api Stadium.
Despite the result, the Red & Black impressed across the pitch creating chances, showing defensive composure and gaining valuable minutes as preparations continue for the upcoming Australia Cup and Isuzu UTE A-League Men season.
The match began with early signs of danger from Aydan Hammond, whose energy and long-range effort in the second minute set the tone for a dominate opening spell by the Red & Black.
Just minutes later, defender Anthony Pantazopolous nearly opened the scoring, meeting a cross but watching his header cannon off the far post.
By the 15-minute mark, the Wanderers had created several clear opportunities and were firmly in control of the contest. Kosta Barbarouses came close to setting up the opener, slipping a well-weighted ball through to Marcus Younis, only for a desperate last-ditch tackle to deny the winger a shot on goal.
Despite the early dominance, Persib slowly grew into the game. The final 20 minutes of the first half saw the hosts push forward, testing the Wanderers defence by captain Lawrence Thomas remained untroubled, with solid defensive structure keeping Persib at bay.
A standout moment came in the 46th minute when Alex Bonetig and Pantazopoulos combined to block a goal-bound strike and preserve the deadlock heading into the break.
Following a strong first half, the Wanderers made a number of changes at the break, giving the entire bench a chance to gain valuable minutes in the second half of the pre-season hit-out.
Just minutes after the restart, Barbarouses was brought down on the edge of the box, earning the Red & Black a free kick.
Steven Ugarkovic stepped up and unleashed a thunderous strike that smashed against the crossbar, an effort that left the crowd stunned and the Wanderers inches away from a deserved lead.
Persib found the opener in the 60th minute after a dangerous ball into the area. Wanderers goalkeeper Jordan Holmes did well to punch it clear initially, but Persib’s William reacted quickest and fired a powerful follow-up strike into the net.
The Wanderers didn’t drop their intensity after conceding, continuing to push forward in search of an equaliser with strong spells of possession.
Defensively, the side remained alert with Mo-Al Taay stepping in with a crucial interception in the 86th minute to deny Persib another clear chance.
In the final stages, Gabriel Cleur’s low cross flashed across the face of the goal, just out of reach of any Red & Black attackers. The last opportunity of the night fell to Jarrod Carluccio in stoppage time, but his strike was blocked before it could trouble the Persib goalkeeper.
While the Wanderers ultimately fell to a 1-0 defeat, there were plenty of positives to take from the pre-season outing including fluid build-up play, strong squad rotation and valuable minutes for the entire travelling group.
The friendly marked a valuable step forward in the team’s preparations for the Australia Cup and upcoming A-Leagues season.
