Albury City defeat rivals Albury United to claim Andronicos Cup.

Albury City will carry plenty of momentum into the AWFA season after taking out their second Andronicos Cup pre-season tournament in three years at Jelbart Park on Sunday.

A fabulous strike from City striker Patrick Brown in the second period of extra time sealed the 2-1 grand final victory for the hosts.

City hit the front early in the first half when Thorne Maw was brought down in the box and the penalty was successfully taken by Hamish Keatings.

United replied with a penalty of their own on the stroke of half-time, with Frenchman Thomas Romero making no mistake after winning the spot kick.

City did the majority of the attacking in the second half with United keeper Scott Lynch pulling off some excellent saves from the boot of Brown and new recruit Sarjan Mahji.

No goals were scored in the opening five minutes of extra time, but Brown was able to find some space and pick out the bottom left corner early in the second half of added time to deliver the hammer blow.

The result was somewhat soured for City by a knee injury to Noah Sredojevic, who left the field in an ambulance.

City coach Ricky Piltz took plenty from the day.

“We had a few things planned in pre-season that we put into effect and I think we’re heading in the right direction,” Piltz said.

“The advantage we’ve got is testing the depth and today gave us a good idea of how far we can go down.

“We brought 22 players here today and everyone pulled their weight when they were on the field.”

Former United defender Seb Berkhout showed promising signs for City, while Jake Cronin, who played at Melrose in 2018 and goalkeeper Lachie James, who returns from Murray United, will add more depth to the ranks.

Greens’ coach Steve McLennan was proud of the effort with a limited squad of 13 players at his disposal.

Star midfielder Gauthier Robin and centre back Kris Wheeler were among the names missing.

Lynch won the Peter Galanakis Player of the Match Award.