Winger Bruce Kamau scored both goals for Warren Joyce's men on the coach's A-League debut, with a classy side-footed goal just before half-time and a deflected effort 15 minutes from time.

City dominated possession for the 90 minutes and certainly looked the more fluid side after a slow start, with Kamau's eventual brace symptomatic of his side's showing, given the winger looked out of sorts in the opening 30 minutes only to finish the game looking dangerous.

City handed regular season starting eleven debuts to Eugene Galekovic, Bart Schenkeveld, Iacopo La Rocca and Ross McCormack. The former Leeds United and Aston Villa striker McCormack arrived in Australia less than a week ago and it showed, despite a few moments where he impressed with his touch.

Stefan Mauk was also named in the starting eleven in his second stint for City. He is on loan from NEC in Holland. Mauk and McCormack took up the attacking positions in the absence of Tim Cahill who is on Socceroos duty.

Brisbane had three starting eleven debutants - former Serie A stalwart and marquee man Massimo Maccarone, former Melbourne Victory winger and Johnny Warren medallist Fahid Ben Khalfallah and youngster and Melbourne-born Petros Skapetis.

On the stroke of half-time, after a lacklustre and forgettable 45 minutes of football, City took the lead through Kamau to reward the crowd of 9589 for their patience.

Both sides struggled to find a rhythm in the first half with City making most of the play.

Luke Brattan was doing his best to be creative in midfield but his wingers, Kamau and Nick Fitzgerald, were being held well by Brisbane's wide defenders Corey Brown and Jack Hingert.

Mauk looked City's most dangerous player in the first half. At times he was playing the game at a different pace to anyone on the pitch, his interventions a welcome change to the game's sluggish tempo.

McCormack had a couple of nice touches leading the City line, as did Roar striker Maccarone, however, the 31-year-old and the 38-year-old had little influence early.

McCormack blazed a shot wide in the 40th minute, while Joe Caletti (second minute) and Nicholas D'Agostino - who hit the bar in the 30th minute - had wonderful chances for Brisbane's despite City's dominance of possession.

Joyce handed debut City appearances to marquee man Marcin Budzinski and Scott Jamieson in the second half, the pair playing the final 10 minutes of the encounter.

The Polish youth international led the line replacing McCormack while Jamieson slotted into an unusual position for him, left wing in place of Nick Fitzgerald.

After they entered the game Maccarone had his best moment of the match when he turned a City defender in the box, however, his shot was meek and rolled into the hands of Galekovic.

Jamieson pounced on a loose Roar pass in the 88th minute and charged up the field to release Budzinski on goal, however, his shot was blocked by a lunging Jade North.

Roar looked poor on the night and City's slow start was similarly ugly, but grinding out the win will impress Joyce and the fans, especially because this City side has so often been accused of lacking the mental and physical toughness to scrap out games.