Football
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Sydney FC defeat Rockdale City Suns, Adelaide knocks out Central Coast in FFA Cup Round of 32

Sydney FC's new era is off to a winning start after opening their FFA Cup defence with a come-from-behind 4-2 victory over Rockdale City Suns.

A huge upset appeared to be brewing in new coach Steve Corica's first official match in charge, with Rockdale grabbing the lead in just the sixth minute through a cracking goal from Harris Gaitatzis.

Latching onto a short pass from his right, Gaitatzis hit a first-time chipped shot from the edge of the penalty area that sailed right over the head of gloveman Andrew Redmayne and sent shockwaves through the FFA Cup holders.

But the Suns were soon brought back down to earth, with new Sydney recruit Daniel De Silva levelling the scores on the half-hour mark with a well-struck volley.

The Sky Blues then scored twice in three minutes early in the second half to take the sting out of the contest -- first a Ben Warland header, then skipper Alex Brosque finishing off a neat team move.

Brosque added one more in the 64th minute before Toufic Alameddine pulled one back eight minutes later for Rockdale.

Redmayne failed to complete the match, limping off the ground in the dying minutes after taking a knock to his knee in a potential injury concern for Corica.

Another new A-League coach was on debut on Wednesday, but it was a night to forget for Mike Mulvey.

His Central Coast Mariners were routed 3-0 on the road by Adelaide United, with off-season recruit Mirko Boland scoring a bicycle-kick goal in his first game for the club at the Marsden Sports Complex.

Jordan Elsey and Craig Goodwin scored the others for the Reds, who were beaten by Sydney in last year's final.

Heidelberg United are also into the round of 16 after a 2-1 win over Newcastle-based Charlestown City Blues in Melbourne.

Meanwhile, Cairns FC finally broke through for their maiden FFA Cup triumph with a 4-0 demolition of Perth's Armadale SC at home.

Previously known as the Far North Queensland Heat, Cairns had failed to progress past the round of 32 in four previous attempts.

They were given a massive leg-up, though, with Armadale controversially reduced to 10 men in the first half when Beau Rahim was sent off for bringing down Cairns striker Josh Taylor.

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