Hendry hurt in City loss Mombaerts fears for Scot’s knee as Adelaide triumph

MELBOURNE City’s Scottish international Jack Hendry has suffered a suspected serious knee injury during a 3-1 ALeague loss to Adelaide United.

Hendry, in his second ALeague appearance after being loaned by Celtic, dug his right knee into the turf and landed awkwardly in the last 15 seconds of last night’s fixture in Adelaide. City coach Erick Mombaerts says an initial diagnosis on Hendry, who has won three caps for Scotland, was unknown but the 24-yearold “has a big injury”. “For me, it’s most important ... the injury of Jack,” Mombaerts said. “We can lose a game, we will be better next time. But if we lose this player for a long time it will be a big problem for us.

“I don’t know exactly but I think it’s a big injury.”

A Ben Halloran brace propelled Adelaide United to a valuable victory, with teammate George Blackwood also scoring at Coopers Stadium.

The fifth-placed Reds drew level on points with fourthplaced Wellington Phoenix.

“We didn’t give a lot away and we controlled the game,” Adelaide coach Gertjan Verbeek said.

City’s Craig Noone scored in a lacklustre showing from the visitors – but he also gifted Halloran’s first goal with a defensive blunder.

In the 12th minute, Noone shanked an attempted clearance from a scrambled corner

– the ball fell invitingly to Halloran who hammered into the net from 10 metres.

Noone made amends just two minutes later when he too produced a low, driven leftfooter which found the net from about the same distance to equalise.

Noone pounced after teammate Scott Galloway burst along the left flank and crossed, with Adelaide captain Michael Jakobsen’s header failing to clear the defensive lines and falling into the Englishman’s path.

The tide turned Adelaide’s way just before halftime when Halloran, then Blackwood, converted sweetly-struck headers in a six-minute span.

In the 41st minute, a swinging Riley McGree corner deflected off Blackwood and City defender Curtis Good towards Halloran at the far post, who headed his fifth goal in the league this season. Minutes later, Blackwood latched on to a Nathan Konstandopoulos corner with a header which gave City goalkeeper Dean Bouzanis no chance.

Meanwhile, a wasteful Newcastle have failed to convert a lopsided 27-4 advantage in shots in a frustrating scoreless A-League draw with Western United. Just a day after announcing the return of striker Roy O’Donovan, the Jets’ scoring profligacy was highlighted with another maddening display.