The Central Coast Mariners’ National Youth League (NYL) team has been humbled 4-0 by F3 rivals the Newcastle Jets at Bluetongue Stadium this evening in the historic first ever east coast derby fixture of Australia’s new competition for elite young players.
The Central Coast Mariners- National Youth League (NYL) team has been humbled 4-0 by F3 rivals the Newcastle Jets at Bluetongue Stadium this evening in the historic first ever east coast derby fixture of Australia-s new competition for elite young players.
In the first of what is sure to be many fierce derby match ups in accordance with the trend that has been set between the Mariners and the Jets in the Hyundai A-League, it was the Novocastrians that duly claimed three deserved competition points.
Jesse Pinto, Adrian Karakolevski, James Virgili and Brodie Mooy shared the scoring for the visitors, who dominated from the outset to claim their breakthrough NYL triumph.
“Full credit to the Jets, they were out looking for their first win and they played very well tonight,” said Mariners Youth Development Co-ordinator Damien Brown after the match.
“I think we started off well, which was pleasing as that had been our downfall in recent weeks and we spoke about that at training, but it was unfortunate that our heads went down after that first goal.”
The first opportunity to open the scoring fell to the hosts, with midfielder Sean Mitchell firing a strong effort from distance on twelve minutes that was parried brilliantly by Jets goalkeeper Jordan Griffiths.
The Jets- opener came from standout midfielder Pinto-s dipping free kick, which Mariners custodian Matthew Nash could only watch sail into an empty net after a wicked deflection.
The Mariners- best chance to equalise came towards the end of the half when striker Darko Vidovic skewed a header wide of the upright with the goal at his mercy.
The home side would lament this miss soon after, when Karakolevski fired a superb strike from considerable distance past Nash to double the Jets- advantage.
Despite the two-goal deficit at the break, the Mariners- general play was mostly encouraging, with defenders Nathan Sherlock and Steven Tibbetts impressive throughout.
The second half continued to deliver some promising scoring opportunities for the Mariners -the best again falling to Vidovic, who was unlucky not to convert after being first to a rebound off Brady Smith-s free kick.
Newcastle added a third seven minutes from time through Virgili, before Mooy completed the scoring with only seconds left to play.
“There were a lot of positives to come out of the game in terms of the combinations that we-ve started to develop, which with the limited time we get training together is pleasing to see, tonight was also a big learning curve for our boys and I-m confident that we-ll bounce back from this,” said Brown.
“It-s up to our guys to look in the mirror and we-ll continue to work hard at training and continue our improvement throughout the remainder of the season.”
The Mariners- National Youth League (NYL) campaign continues at the Sydney Football Stadium home of southern rivals Sydney FC on Saturday, 1 November. Kick off is at 4.15pm.
The Mariners- NYL squad is next on the Central Coast on Saturday, 15 November, when they host Adelaide United at Bluetongue Stadium. Kick off is at 4.45pm.
Tickets for this match are on sale from Ticketek outlets, from the Ticketek website – www.ticketek.com.au, or via phone on 132 849.
Match Details
Central Coast Mariners 1. Matthew Nash (gk), 2. Steven Tibbets, 5. Nathan Sherlock, 6. Ty Owens (7. Matt Lewis 46-), 8. Nick Kapsis, 9. Brady Smith, 11. Darko Vidovic, 12. Scott Wright, 13. Laurence Braude (6. Ty Owens 90-), 15. Greg Owens (10. Glen Trifiro 58-), 17. Sean Mitchell
Yellow Cards Mitchell 77-
Red Cards None
Goals None
Newcastle Jets 1. Jordan Griffiths (gk), 2. Joel Witherdin, 3. Adrian Karakolevski (14. Jacob Pepper 60-), 4. George Strogylos, 5. Jon Griffiths, 6. Taylor Regan, 7. Jarrad Ross (12. James Virgili 55-), 8. Matthew Harper, 9. Brodie Mooy, 10. Jesse Pinto, 11. Simon Mooney
Yellow Cards Pinto 54-
Red Cards None
Goals Pinto 21-, Karakolevski 38-, Virgili 83-, Mooy 89-
Referee James Lewis
