Mariners fall to Adelaide United  

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Adelaide United have emerged 3-0 winners at Central Coast Stadium thanks to a Craig Goodwin brace and strike to Apostolos Stamatelopoulos.

Central Coast Mariners 0 Adelaide United 3 (Goodwin 9’ 56’, Stamatelopoulos 16’)

The run down

Click here to watch Mike Mulvey’s press conference in full 

This game marked the 100th Hyundai A-League appearance for Jack Clisby which was a pleasing occasion to both him and the fans.

The first ten minutes was a battle for possession as both sides fought to try and find a rhythm in the match. It didn’t take long for the first chance of the game to lead to the first goal for Adelaide as a deadly cross was met by the head of Goodwin.

The goal gave Adelaide all the confidence and the Mariners struggled to find a way through a strong Adelaide defence. Adelaide’s strength up front was on display as United doubled their lead after Goodwin drilled a low cross to the feet of Stamatelopoulos who put it in the back of the net.

Adelaide continued their pressure on the Mariners’ defence as Craig Goodwin and Scott Galloway were the focal points for many of their chances putting several dangerous crosses into the Mariners’ box. Despite a late flurry of chances for the Yellow and Navy, Adelaide went into the half time break with a two-goal lead.

The Mariners came out a much more dominant force in the second half with Tommy Oar having several chances and the centre back pairing of Golec and Cisse holding firm. However, early in the second half Adelaide added a third after a free kick by Craig Goodwin beat the gloves of Ben Kennedy.

The second half also saw Andrew Hoole complete his road to recovery, coming on as a substitute after missing majority of the pre-season. Former Mariner Paul Izzo made two great saves that denied both Tommy Oar and Connor Pain certain goals towards the back end of the game. The Mariners continued to fight during the closing stages of the half but couldn’t break a solid Adelaide defence who finished the game as 3-0 victors.

GOALS:

9’ GOODWIN GOAL (1-0): A wonderful cross by Stamatelopoulos is converted by the head of Craig Goodwin at the front post.

16’ STAMATELOPOULOS GOAL (2-0): Scott Galloway delivers a superb through ball for Craig Goodwin who’s low drilled cross is converted by Adelaide’s front man.

56’ GOODWIN GOAL (3-0): Goodwin added a second to his tally and a third for Adelaide after Ben Kennedy couldn’t handle a powerful free kick from the left winger.

Mulvey in the media

“Absolutely it’s a wakeup call. I didn’t see it coming. We trained pretty well during the week. From the warm up everyone said that’s the best warm up we’ve done so there were no warning signs. It’s a time for reflection and a time to go have a look in the mirror and the first person that does that is me, I take full responsibility.

“We didn’t get hold of Isaias. We were a little bit vulnerable when he got the ball and he sort of bossed the game from there, but goals change games. They just won the FFA cup so they’re a bit buoyant and we made it a little bit easy for them to get the first two goals and they got a little more confident and perhaps we went into a shell and we need to change that.

“[at half time] I asked the lads to have a good think about what has happened in the first half and if anybody couldn’t think they could be part of a winning team in the second half stay in the dressing room. At the end of the day it’s about performances, we have to earn the trust of the Central Coast public and we do that with performances on the park. In the past this has been the norm, losing 3-0 and we can’t accept that, and I won’t accept that and that’s why I’m saying I take full responsibility and I’ll fix this on the training paddock and we’ll have a team ready to go for next week.

“We had a rocky moment today, you need to take care of business you need to train well, you need prepare well and you need to play well. Today We played better football in the second half and we almost got back in the game, but the third goal took the wind out of our sails, we need to lick our wounds, get back to the training paddock and get ready for next week,” Mulvey said.

Central Coast Mariners: 1. Ben KENNEDY (GK), 3. Jack CLISBY, 5. Antony GOLEC, 20. Kalifa CISSE, 15. Kye ROWLES, 6. Tom HIARIEJ (7. Andrew HOOLE 45’), 8. Michael McGLINCHEY (18. Matt MILLAR 72’), 13. Aiden O’NEIL, 10. Tommy OAR, 19. Matt SIMON, 44. Ross McCORMACK (11. Connor PAIN 62’)

Substitutes not use: 12. Adam PEARCE (GK) & 22. Jacob MELLING

Yellow cards: O’Neill 55’, Simon 61’

Adelaide United: 20. Paul IZZO (GK), 2. Michael MARRONE, 3. Scott GALLOWAY, 8. ISAIAS, 10. Ken ILSO LARSEN (7. Ryan KITTO 65’), 11. Craig GOODWIN (4. Ryan STRAIN 82’), 16. Nathan KONSTANDOPOULOS, 22. Michael JAKOBSEN, 23. Jordan ELSEY, 26. Benjamin HALLORAN, 33. Apostolos STAMATELOPOULOS (17. Nikola MILEUSNIC 72’)

Substitutes not used: 30. Isaac RICHARDS (GK), 5. Taylor REGAN

Yellow cards: Stamatelopoulos 37’

Sunday, 4 November 2018
Central Coast Stadium, Gosford
Crowd: 6043
Central Coast Mariners vs. Adelaide United