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Gibbs revels in Wanderers romp

25 July 2012-SBS

joey gibbs wanderers

Impressive display ... striker Joey Gibbs scored four goals in 32 minutes.

Ex-Sydney FC youth striker Joey Gibbs stole the show in Western Sydney Wanderers' long-awaited debut in a trial against Nepean on Wednesday night.

The Wanderers beat the NSW fourth-tier side 5-0 in front of a crowd of 3,612 who braved a cold night at St Marys in Sydney's west to watch the A-League's newest club in action.

But the talking point after the match was 20-year-old triallist Gibbs's impressive four-goal haul that may have been enough to land him a contract.

His four goals in 32 minutes in the second half came after striker Labinot Haliti became the Wanderers' first ever scorer when he found the net with a firm shot just before halftime.

"I’m buzzing. I’m very happy with tonight’s performance, it was a great atmosphere and a fantastic turnout," head coach Tony Popovic said later.

"I think it showed a lot of the players what they have become a part of.

"I’m pleased with how we played in our first outing and all the players on trial acquitted themselves well.

"We’ll look over the match and training over the coming days to identify our next signings but as I said I am very happy with the result."

Popovic started seven of his nine contracted players with the uneven surface not proving too difficult for the Wanderers to gain early control of the match.

From the beginning the Wanderers were on the front foot, with Aaron Mooy pulling the strings from midfield while Haliti was in fine form up front hitting the bar three tiimes before scoring with a volley from a pass by Mark Bridge.

A nearly complete change to the roster at halftime saw a full complement of trialling players take the field.

And with over a dozen players looking to secure a contract with the club on show, Popovic was left with much to ponder.

Gibbs and young winger Zac Elrich took control with Gibbs scoring from two headers and a pair of close-range efforts that all came from lead-up play by Elrich.

The Wanderers next trial match will be against Blacktown Spartans at Blacktown International Sportspark on Wednesday 1 August.

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