Despite taking a first half lead thanks to Jake McGing’s maiden Hyundai A-League goal the Central Coast Mariners lost a man in the second half to take a well-earned point away from home against the Newcastle Jets.
Newcastle Jets 1 (Nordstrand 63’) Central Coast Mariners 1 (McGing 42’)
Even with a one-man deficit, the Yellow & Navy pushed hard until the final whistle for the winner and almost had it thanks to a break by substitute Trent Buhagiar that saw the ball fall to the feet of Roy O’Donovan who drew Newcastle’s Jack Duncan into an incredible save with almost the last kick off the game.
For the first time this season, the Central Coast Mariners went into the first half break with a lead after a precision Fabio Ferreira set piece from just outside the box.
It’s never a bad time to score but a goal before the break always goes down a treat and that’s exactly what the Yellow & Navy produced. Ferreira’s cross flew across the goal mouth and McGing made space on the back stick to head home for the first goal of his Hyundai A-League career.
The second half was off to a cagey start that saw Both Liam Rose and Jake McGing go into the book early followed by some push and shove between Blake Powell and Wayne Brown.
With that, the #F3Derby heated up for an insane twenty minutes that saw Liam Rose harshly awarded a second yellow card for a hand ball and a goal to the home team at McDonald Jones Stadium.
Across the 90 minutes, Mariners’ goalkeeper Paul izzo was outstanding in front of goals and earned himself the Fox Sports player of the match plaudits.
With 10 men on the pitch it took a brave 30 minutes from the Mariners to not only hold on but push for a winner, unfortunately it wasn’t to be.
The Central Coast Mariners would like to thank the overwhelming support from our travelling fans in the away bays for Sunday’s #F3Derby. See you all on Thursday night back at Central Coast Stadium for the Mariners’ next clash against Perth Glory.
Goals
42’ McGING GOAL: It was a set piece that allowed the Central Coast Mariners to strike just before the break at McDonald Jones Stadium. Fabio Ferreira stood over the ball and whipped in a precise cross that was just beyond the head of a diving Roy O’Donovan but McGing was on the back stick to head home his first Hyundai A-League goal.
64’ NORDSTRAND GOAL: It was the Danish attacker who equalised for the Newcastle Jets, finding himself on the end of a precision through ball. Nordstrand broke into space before calmly finishing the one-on-one opportunity.
“It’s probably our best first half performance of the season,” Okon said. “We took the lead, controlled the game and looked really comfortable.
“We spoke about it at half time, we knew the Jets would come out firing they had to play a little higher up the field and apply more pressure and they did that. Of course the red card impacts what happens in the back end of the game.
“You need to show character if you’re going to come away with something from the game and Paul Izzo was outstanding, he made some really good saves and the boys were brave so we go home with a point.
“There’s no point me having an opinion because it doesn’t make a difference, I asked the fourth official in the 85th minute about a handball by the Jets in the corner and he told me to shut up and I’m just asking a question.
“Looking at tonight’s fixture as a supporter I think it was a really positive day for both clubs, there was atmosphere and we were delighted that we had a number of our supporters travel up and support us.
“I think that was the most exciting #F3Derby in a long time so from our perspective we’re happy that we were able to give our fans something and we look forward to the next #F3Derby in the new year.
“I see improvement every day at training and unfortunately for a number of reasons that hasn’t translated into enough victories in my opinion but it’s small steps.
“We’re certainly not going to die wondering, I think everyone could see that even with 10 men we pushed for that second goal and we actually opened ourselves up for the Jets to counter us so it’s not in our DNA and we feel that even with 10 men we can cause problems. If we had a bit more luck, we could have had one at the end and see ourselves go home with a victory.
“Given everything that happened, certainly after the red card we’re happy with a point.
“We move on, we’ve got a tough game on Thursday against Perth who have two days extra to prepare than us but it is what it is, so we will go home recover and go again looking for three points on Thursday,” Okon said.
Central Coast Mariners: 20.Paul IZZO (gk), 2.Storm ROUX, 22.Jake McGING, 6.Blake POWELL (5.Harry ASCROFT 70’), 7.Fabio FERREIRA (13.Trent BUHAGIAR 77’), 9.Roy O’DONOVAN, 10.Mickael TAVARES, 11.Connor PAIN (17.Josh BINGHAM 86’), 14.Liam ROSE, 21.Mickey NEILL, 22.Jake McGING,
Unused substitutes: 1.Ivan NECEVSKI (gk) & 14.Adam BERRY
Yellow cards: McGing 46’ & 64’, Rose 50’, Neill 70’
Red card: Rose 64’
Newcastle Jets: 20. Jack DUNCAN (Gk), 3.Jason HOFFMAN, 7. Andrew HOOLE,10. Wayne BROWN (c), 15.Andrew NABBOUT (9. Aleksandr KOKKO 77’), 16.Nicholas COWBURN, 19. Morten NORDSTRAND, 23. Devante CLUT (18. MA Leilei 90’), 26.Iain FYFE (5.Ben KANTAROVSKI 64’), 28. Johnny KOUTROUMBIS
Unused Substitutes: 30. Pierce CLARK (Gk), 6.Steven UGARKOVIC
Yellow cards: Poljak 53’, Nabbout 69’, Nordstrand 70’, Koutroumbis 78’
Sunday November 20, 2016
McDonald Jones Stadium, Newcastle
Newcastle Jets vs. Central Coast Mariners
Attendance: 11 238
