Mowbray begins Celtic reign with win

Tony Mowbray celebrated his first game in charge of Celtic with a solid win 3-0 win over Brisbane Roar on Sunday at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.

New Zealand international Chris Killen scored two goals in the space of three minutes late in the first half before substitute Koki Mizuno struck in the 50th minute with a brilliant diving header.

The hosts fought gamely to reduce the deficit but Roar keeper Liam Reddy continued to have a hard time of it with Celtic stand-in captain and Australia striker Scott McDonald influential before being replaced in the 61st minute.

Marc-Antoine Fortune, who recently completed a reported £3.8million move from Nancy to Glasgow, entered the fray at McDonald's expense but failed to fire in his first appearance for the Hoops.

Fortune, like many Celtic players, appeared tired after the long flight, but still gave Celtic fans an exciting preview of his skills with a couple of deft touches.

The match, played in front of a boisterous crowd of 31,340 that featured plenty of Hoops supporters, was the first of four pre-season friendlies for Celtic in preparation for the opening UEFA Champions League qualifier.

The only sour note for the visitors was a possible knee injury to Milan Misun who looked to be in some pain after clashing with Roar midfielder Matt McKay.

The visitors started shakily and Polish keeper Artur Boruc was forced to produce a handful of saves to keep Brisbane youngster Robbie Kruse at bay in the opening stages.

Celtic took control of the contest and by the 20th minute, Reddy found himself under siege with Celtic trio Killen, McDonald and Shaun Maloney linking up smoothly in attack.

A sloppy touch from McDonald saw a goal go begging in the 32nd minute before Killen broke the deadlock in the 39th minute, nodding the ball home after a pinpoint cross from Lee Naylor.

Roar fans barely had time to catch their breath before Maloney released Killen, whose searing low strike from the edge of the penalty box found the back of Reddy's net.

Killen was denied a chance at a hat-trick when Mowbray substituted the in-form striker at half-time, but the visitors continued to push and Mizuno claimed the best goal of the match when he threw himself at a great cross from Georgios Samaras.

The Roar's annual Translink Cup encounter was marred by three pitch invaders who interrupted play in the second half.

Charlie Miller, one of three former Rangers players at the Roar, delivered a pre-match promise for a lively match with plenty of Old Firm rivalry and the playmaker did his best to inject some excitement late in the piece.

Miller was involved with some playful banter with the Celtic fans, but it was on the field where he made the biggest impact - getting the better of substitute keeper Lukasz Zaluska on three occasions but failing to find the net.

• West Ham United kicked off their pre-season schedule with a workmanlike 2-1 win at Blue Square Premier outfit Grays Athletic this afternoon.

A second-string Hammers line-up was bereft of players who have featured in summer international matches, while injuries also ruled out Valon Behrami, Scott Parker and Dean Ashton.

New signing Luis Jimenez only arrived in England this week after signing on loan from Inter Milan and will join up with Gianfranco Zola's squad tomorrow ahead of their two-week training camp in Austria.

Julien Faubert, James Collins and Kieron Dyer were the only recognised first-team players in Zola's starting line-up, but the visitors nevertheless had too much quality for their non-league hosts.

Jamaican youngster Zavon Hines opened the scoring for the Barclays Premier League side before former Tottenham youth player Jamie Slabber levelled for Grays with a low shot past Peter Kurucz.

Hammers centre-back Danny Gabbidon came on at the interval as he continued his comeback after 18 months on the sidelines, while 17-year-old Cristian Montano hit West Ham's winner with a side-footed finish 17 minutes from time.

• Stoke's pre-season bid got off to an ignominious start as they slumped to a surprise 2-1 loss at non-league Newcastle Town.

Matthew Etherington cancelled out the hosts' opener at Lyme Valley Stadium but Chris Budrys found a shock winner for Town as Tony Pulis saw his top-flight charges humbled.

Pulis' misery was completed as a Stoke XI side featuring the likes of Ryan Shawcross, Liam Lawrence and Danny Higginbotham also went down to defeat on Sunday, 2-0 against Nantwich.

• Goals from Andy and Eddie Johnson and a third from Erik Nevland guided Fulham to a 3-0 victory over Melbourne Victory at the Etihad Stadium.

England striker Andy Johnson put the Cottagers ahead just after the half-hour when he converted a penalty awarded after he was knocked to the floor by Melbourne keeper Mitchell Langerak.

Substitute Eddie Johnson then doubled the lead shortly after the hour when he raced on to an Andranik ball and he fired into the back of the net.

Nevland then rounded off a comprehensive victory when Seol Ki-Hyeon flicked the ball into the path of Nevland with the outside of his boot and the Norwegian slotted home.

• Premier League newcomers Burnley suffered a 2-1 defeat at Bradford as they opened their pre-season campaign.

The Clarets, who were promoted through the play-offs, took the lead in the 13th minute courtesy of Graham Alexander after former Bantam Robbie Blake had squared the ball to the midfielder.

However, the League Two side hit back with two goals before half-time.

James O'Brien equalised from 12 yards before Michael Boulding coolly slotted past Burnley goalkeeper Brian Jensen for the winner.

• West Bromwich Albion missed two penalties in the final nine minutes as they went down to a 1-0 defeat at Histon.

Debutant Simon Cox, who joined the Baggies in a £1.5million move from Swindon, and Luke Moore both had their spot-kicks saved by Histon goalkeeper Danny Naisbitt in the 81st and 85th minutes respectively.

Jamie Barker scored the only goal of the game with a 15-yard volley in the 64th minute for the Blue Square Premier club as Roberto di Matteo lost his first match in charge of the Baggies, who will start this season in the second tier after relegation from the Premier League.

• Two strikes either side of half-time saw QPR claim a commanding 4-0 win at Aldershot. Akos Buzsaky put the west London side ahead with an unstoppable shot before Heidar Helguson doubled the lead from close range.

Patrick Agyemang added a third when he calmly slotted home after being put clear by Mikele Leigertwood and Dexter Blackstock wrapped up the win with a shot from six yards.