Central Coast Mariners 1 (O’Donovan 76’) Wellington Phoenix 1 (McGlinchey 8’)
The Run Down
Despite a commanding performance the Central Coast Mariners have shared the points with Wellington Phoenix where a Roy O’Donovan header in the 76th minute cancelled out a first half strike to Michael McGlinchey.
In a match that saw the statistics and performance skew heavily in favour of the Mariners the home team racked up 17 shots to Wellington’s 8 and a staggering 15 corners to the Phoenix’s 2.
The header was the Irishman’s third in as many home matches and near misses to the likes of Heffernan, Ferreira and McGing in the dying stages had the home side excruciatingly close to picking up all three points.
An open first half saw the Central Coast Mariners head into the break facing a 1-0 deficit. After jagging an early goal Phoenix were heavily pressured for large phases through out the first half. The Yellow & Navy boasted almost 60% of the possession in the opening stanza.
Typically, Ferreira and Austin were damaging out wide but the execution was just off for the Mariners.
Full attention now turns to the first #F3Derby of the season where the Mariners will head north to take on the Newcastle Jets at Hunter Stadium next Saturday.
GOALS
8’ McGLINCHEY GOAL: For the second time in two weeks it was a former Mariner who haunted the home side at Central Coast Stadium. The play started with an impressive switch from Krishna who’s diagonal ball from the right found the feet of the Kiwi international who finished from inside the area.
76’ O’DONOVAN GOAL: Who else but the Irishman! The former Sunderland striker leapt above the pack from a corner to head home and bag his third goal in as many home matches. The header was somewhat of a milestone for the Mariners, their 200th at Central Coast Stadium
Key Moments:
18’ AUSTIN POWER: Mitch Austin used his sheer pace to get in behind the Phoenix backline, his cross-had ‘nix fans worried but the ball was just too much for O’Donovan to latch onto.
21’ CACERES VOLLEY: Caceres looked to take the game into his own hands with a volley from just outside the 18-yard-box that flew just wide.
22’ FABIO FOOTWORK: Ferreira caused headaches for the Phoenix defence all night and in the 22nd minute he created enough space inside to shoot but Glen Moss smothered the danger.
31’ O’DONOVAN OFF SIDE: The Irishman looked to have his third goal in the same amount of home matches thanks to a Caceres set piece. Unfortunately the goal was pulled back by the off side flag.
40’ L.ROSE STRIKE: The young centre midfielder stepped up to the plate with a laser beam strike but Moss was up to the challenge and palmed away the danger.
59’ IZZO SAVE: Bonevacia found himself with enough space to pull the trigger, his sharp shooting was denied by an incredible diving save by Izzo who’s fingertips deflected the effort off the upright.
66’ McGING HEADER x 2: The Mariners’ 9th corner of the match saw young centre back Jake McGing rise above the pack but his aerial threat was shut down by an astute Justin Gulley for Phoenix. Just Two minutes later, McGing had a taste for goal and went again, this time he beat his man but the contact glanced just wide.
70’ FERREIRA FIRES: The Portuguese winger looked certain to have the equaliser from an almost impossible angle after Josh Rose whipped in a precision cross. Ferreira let rip from a tough angle but his shot was just off the mark.
73’ MAYHEM IN THE BOX: After some chaos in the Phoenix 18-yard-box Austin, Heffernan & Roux all had a lash to finish from close range. Fortunately for Wellington there were enough bodies in the box.
80’ BINGHAM HEADER: One of Walmsey’s second half substitutes found himself with a free header, unfortunately the young striker found the chest of Moss.
Walmsley’s words:
“I haven’t seen the official stats but I think we got the ball in the box 40 times or so, that’s what we’re about.”
“We knew what threat they were on the counter attack, we knew what threat they are in general play, their ability for McGlinchey and Bonevacia to get into pockets. We knew that if we could squeeze them and restrict their space that we could stop the majority of their threat.”
“Of course if you give the ball to them early in the game and they score off it, it allows Ernie who’s an astute tactician to set his stall onto hold onto to that and make life difficult for us.”
“You could see the amount of work that Ferreira and Austin did up the line, Ferreira has a hamstring niggle which is the most disappointing part of today but credit to him for getting that many crosses in.”
“I’ve got incredible belief, we’re a side in the making and we are relishing the freedom that we’ve got to go and attack teams.”
“There will be a day where we convert far more and the belief will grow into the next game and if we can use that performance as a platform to go to the Jets and get a result away from home, which will be the first time in a long time, then that will do wonders for us and there’s a lot of belief that we can do that.”
“Today was a case of turning the ball over too cheaply to Krishna and not keeping McGlinchey on his left side as he’s coming into the box.”
“I think they’re right back had had enough of Mitch [Austin] tearing him up so they needed to get someone else on to cope with that.”
“Ernie’s changes were about protecting his lead and I think that gives us a renewed sense of belief, we couldn’t do anymore than we did to try and batter that door down.”
Central Coast Mariners: 1.Paul IZZO (GK), 2.Storm ROUX, 3.Josh ROSE, 4.Jacob POSCOLIERO, 6.Mitch AUSTIN (20.Anthony KALIK 82’), 7.Fabio FERREIRA (19.Josh BINGHAM 72’), 8.Nick MONTGOMERY (C), 9.Roy O’DONOVAN, 10.Anthony CACERES,16.Liam ROSE (14.Daniel HEFFERNAN 56’), 21.Michael NEILL, 22.Jake McGING
Unused substitutes: 30.Adam PEARCE (GK), 23.Eddy BOSNAR
Yellow cards: O’Donovan 9’
Wellington Phoenix squad: 1.Glen MOSS (gk), 2.Manny MUSCAT, 3.Justin GULLEY (16.Louis FENTON 76’), 4.Roly BONEVACIA (23.Matthew RIDENTON 75’), 7.Jeffrey SARPONG (14.Alex RUFER 45’), 8.Alex RODRIGUEZ, 10.Michael MCGLINCHEY, 13.Albert RIERA, 18.Ben SIGMUND, 21.Roy KRISHNA, 22.Andrew DURANTE (c)
Unused substitutes: 20.Lewis ITALIANO (GK), 12.Blake POWELL,
Yellow cards: Bonevacia 6’, Sigmund 36’
Sunday 8 November 2015
Central Coast Mariners 1
Wellington Phoenix 1
Venue: Central Coast Stadium, Gosford
Attendance: 6460
Referee: Chris Beath
