Young Socceroos close in on finals

Luke O-Dea opened the account for the Young Socceroos in the 40th minute before a late brace from Jake Barker-Daish sealed the three points.

Australia moved up to 10 points in Group E and is second behind already qualified Japan, 12 points, with the two sides to meet on Sunday.

A point would seal a place at the inaugural AFC U-22 Championship Finals for Paul Okon's charges while even a loss could see Australia through, with third-placed Singapore on seven points and with an inferior goal difference.

With skipper Terry Antonis suspended after his red card against Singapore and Reece Caira unavailable through illness, Okon made minimal changes to his line-up.

The opening goal arrived after Barker-Daish made a run through midfield and played in O'Dea, who beat two defenders on the edge of the box before firing a right-footed strike home.

Timor Leste had a good chance to equalise a minute later from a corner with a free header that forced a great save from Aussie goalkeeper Nick Munro.

On 87 minutes Josh Brillante's cross was brought down by Anthiony Proia in the box and he laid it off to Barker-Daish who finished with his left foot.

In stoppage time, Nick Fitzgerald squared the ball from the right to Barker-Daish who neatly slotted home to complete his double.

"It was great to be back in the main stadium for this match. It was a very tough match against a fit Timor Leste team that pressed us for the majority of the match," Okon said.

"The better playing surface at the main stadium allowed us to play some good football and I was very proud of the efforts of the players today after playing four games in the past seven days in very hot and humid conditions.

"We finished the game off well and the final score was a just result for the opportunities we created. We now look forward to preparing for the final match against Japan in three days time."

Australia line-up: 18.Nick MUNRO (gk), 2.Josh BRILLANTE, 3.Connor CHAPMAN (c), 5.Corey BROWN, 8.Jake BARKER-DAISH, 15.Nicholas FITZGERALD, 16.Giancarlo GALLIFUOCO (17.Mitch COOPER 85’), 20.James DONACHIE, 21.Brandon O’NEILL, 42.Ben GARUCCIO (41.Riley WOODCOCK 76’), 43.Luke O’DEA (14.Anthony PROIA 79’)

Japan hammered Indonesia 5-1 while Singapore beat Macau 3-0 in the latest round of encounters.