The Central Coast Mariners have conceded at the death to fall 2-1 to Adelaide United away from home after Andrew Hoole opened the scoring with an impressive strike at Coopers Stadium.
Adelaide United 2 (Isaias 66’ & Blackwood 92’) Central Coast Mariners 1 (Hoole 37’)
The run down
Second half strikes to Isaias and George Blackwood sealed three points for Adelaide United after the Mariners went into the half time break with a 1-0 advantage.
The best chance of the first half fell to the Mariners in the 11th minute. Matt Simon jumped above the pack and put his header on target which beat Paul Izzo, but it was cleared off the line by Scott Galloway.
15 minutes later, the Mariners were forced to make a goal line clearance of their own when Craig Goodwin’s shot looked certain to find the back of the net. Enter Kye Rowles who slid in to make one of the most impressive defensive clearances you’ll see.
RECAP | Is this the best goal line clearance of the season? ? @FOXFOOTBALL.
Outstanding, Kye Rowles! ??#ADLvCCM #CCMFC #ALeague pic.twitter.com/Bw0yW3Mc53
— Central Coast Mariners (@CCMariners) January 27, 2019
Full of confidence, the Mariners continued to press high up the park and their persistence was rewarded in the 37th minute when Hoole’s right footer from distance flew perfectly inside the post to make it 1-0.
There was a hint of drama just before half time with Adelaide appealing for a handball in the box, however it was correctly ruled by VAR that it was not a handball, which saw the Mariners hit the sheds with a 1-0 lead.
The Mariners had several chances in the second half to double their lead, the best of the half was a strike from inside the box by Matt Millar that was unfortunately blocked by an unsuspecting Jonathan Aspropotamitis.
Ben Kennedy was kept busy at the other end of the park, called into action on numerous occasions and delivering a raft of top class saves to keep his side in the hunt.
Momentum shifted in the second half in the way of the home side and their efforts were rewarded by goals to Isaias in the 66th minute before substitute George Blackwood headed home the winner in the 92nd minute of play.
Pick. That. Out. Hooley takes his time, cuts onto his right and bends his shot inside the post. What a strike by Andrew Hoole!
? @FOXFOOTBALL#ADLvCCM #CCMFC #ALeague pic.twitter.com/sCPBekrcDw
— Central Coast Mariners (@CCMariners) January 27, 2019
GOAL
37’ HOOLE GOAL (0-1): What a strike. After a couple of promising chances, Hoole took the game by the scruff of the neck and dispatched an impressive curling effort to open the scoring. Offered the time to cut onto his right foot, Hoole’s strike from distance gave Izzo no chance to make a save.
66’ isais goal (1-1): An Adelaide corner bounced around in the box, Isaias pounced on the scraps and found the back of the net with his follow up.
92’ BLACKWOOD GOAL (2-1): At the death, Blackwood broke free and headed home Galloway’s cross at the back post to claim all three points.
Mulvey in the media
“My interpretation was that we at least deserved a point. We frustrated them in the first half with our press and willingness to execute the game plan, we were excellent and deserved the goal.
“We’re playing a top four team here, should be in the top two, they’ve got quality players. They needed to win, they got there in the end and good luck to them.
“From the Sydney game, we’ve been on an upwards curve. The lads have been building in confidence, we’ve been in winning positions. 2-0 up against Wellington, 1-0 up against Sydney, 1-0 up against Adelaide today. We just need to be able to finish teams off.
“We’ve conceded from another set piece. We haven’t cleared the cross, they are first to it and scramble it in. I put it down to concentration. They are break in play moments and that’s a habit. There were a few key moments in the game, BK made a couple of key saves to keep us in it.
“Adelaide are a good side, we took them all the way and that gives us an indicator of how far we’ve come but we’re not ready for that next level. We don’t have that mental toughness to see out a game. That will come.
“We will have another couple of players come into the squad to increase our depth and our training and competition for places. At the end of the day we’ve lost the game, it’s very disappointing but we can’t feel sorry for ourselves because we’ve got a game next week against Victory and we need to be up for that.
“It was a fantastic goal [Hoole] he’s got that in his locker, we’ve got that freedom in the front third and you saw that to its full effect.
“It’s important to keep building depth. Players can’t get too comfortable, players remain hungry if there’s competition. It brings out the best in players,” Mulvey said.
Adelaide United FC: 20.Paul IZZO, 3.Scott GALLOWAY, 4.Ryan STRAIN, 6.Vince LIA (10.Ken ILSØ 46’), 8.Isaías SÁNCHEZ (c), 11.Craig GOODWIN, 16.Nathan KONSTANDOPOULOS, 17.Nikola MILEUSNIĆ (7.Ryan KITTO 71’), (gk), 22.Michael JAKOBSEN, 23.Jordan ELSEY, 26.Ben HALLORAN (14.George BLACKWOOD 62’)
Substitutes not used: 1.Daniel MARGUŠ (gk) & 2.Michael MARRONE
Yellow cards: Goodwin 48’
Central Coast Mariners: 1.Ben KENNEDY (GK), 2.Jonathan ASPROPOTAMITIS, 6.Tom HIARIEJ, 7. Andrew HOOLE (8. Michael MCGLINCHEY 77’), 11. Connor PAIN, 13. Aiden O’NEILL, 15.Kye ROWLES, 18.Matt MILLAR, 19.Matt MILLAR (c), 22.Jacob MELLING (26.Josh NISBET 68’), 25.Jordan MURRAY (3.Jack CLISBY 82’)
Substitutes not used: 12. Adam PEARCE & 17.Peter KEKERIS
Yellow cards: Mulvey 83’, O’Neill 85’
Sunday, 27 January 2019
Coopers Stadium, Adelaide
Adelaide United vs. Central Coast Mariners
