Brazilian wing-back Cassio looks an early contender for A-League recruit of the year after his spectacular late strike handed Adelaide United a second successive pre-season cup title on Sunday.

The home side trailed Perth Glory 1-0 in the grand final at Hindmarsh Stadium due to a curling free kick by Leo Bertos on the stroke of halftime.

But Cassio set-up Bruce Djite for the equaliser on 67 minutes before firing home emphatically on 83 minutes for a 2-1 victory, much to the delight of the 9,606 crowd.

Reds coach Aurelio Vidmar baulked at calling 27-year-old Cassio the league's best new recruit, content simply to label him a "matchwinner".

"Every week he's either putting in an assist or scoring himself, and he's that type of player," said Vidmar.

"He's going to be a matchwinner for us, and he's showed that already in five games. Touch wood that he continues that throughout the season."

Also important for United were second half substitute Jason Spagnuolo and hard-working midfielder Jonas Salley.

Glory playmaker Bertos was arguably the best man on the park until he was substituted on 64 minutes, and Adelaide only grew from there.

Perth coach Ron Smith was happy with his side's effort, but criticised the FFA for sending Perth on five consecutive pre-season road trips.

Some of Adelaide's earlier interplay flummoxed the tall Perth defensive line, but a collective reluctance to make the final shot undermined the fine lead-up play.

They were to pay for their dithering when Bertos' dangerous free kick curled in beyond the reach of Robert Bajich.

The 64th-minute introduction of Spagnuolo for a misfiring Bobby Petta lifted United, and within two minutes they had levelled.

Spagnuolo showed vision to find Cassio down the left flank, and the Brazilian's whippy cross was bundled home in classic centre-forward fashion by Djite.

Much as Reds coach Vidmar had predicted, Adelaide were by this time running stronger than the Glory, and Valkanis then Djite spurned good chances for the winner.

Cassio ensured there would be no need for penalties to break the stalemate after collecting Spagnuolo's free kick on the right flank.

With the crowd baying for him to shoot, he cut artfully inside before firing beyond Glory 'keeper Tando Velaphi from 25 yards.

In other pre-season matches at the weekend, Wellington and Newcastle fought out a 0-0 draw on Friday, Sydney FC defeated Melbourne 1-0 on Saturday, and Queensland beat Central Coast 3-1 on Sunday afternoon.

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