Central Coast Mariners 0 Brisbane Roar 1 (Petratos 85’)
The Run Down
The Central Coast Mariners have conceded an excruciating late goal to Brisbane Roar FC’s Dimitri Petratos in the 85th minute at Central Coast Stadium. It looked certain to finish on even turns but the away side stole the points on a scorching afternoon on the Central Coast.
The Yellow & Navy crowd jumped off their seats in the 92nd minute at the sight of an equaliser that was unfortunately ruled back for offside.
Fabio Ferreira made his return from injury at Central Coast Stadium for the first time since Hyundai A-League round five and will be working hard with the Mariners’ Coaching staff to push back into the starting line up as soon as possible.
Special mention goes to Mitch Austin who again, put in a lively shift on the left wing despite the testing conditions and went close to doubling his goal tally for the season on several occasions.
Young defenders Harry Ascroft & Jake McGing also dug deep to contain the likes of Thomas Broich, Henrique & Jamie Maclaren for majority of the match.
Full attention now turns to Boxing Day where the Mariners will face off against Sydney FC at Allianz Stadium in Hyundai A-League Round 12.
Goal
85’ PETRATOS GOAL: The match was working its way towards a scoreless draw but Brisbane’s substitute made an instant impact with a cracking strike from outside the 18-yard-box, leaving Paul Izzo with no chance.
Key moments
7’ CORONA FREE KICK: An unlucky handball call against Josh Rose resulted in a set piece opportunity on the fringe of the 18-yard-box. The Spaniard opted to play short to Thomas Broich who hit first time but his effort was blocked.
12’ O’DONOVAN SHOT: Roy O’Donovan looked to take the game into his own hands from distance, after creating space for himself the Irishman pulled the trigger with a firm shot but Jamie Young made a nice save to deny.
19’ MACLAREN CHANCE: The inform Maclaren took a superb touch from a long ball at the top of the box; he broke into space with a shot that flew off the upright.
29’ IZZO CHARGES: Maclaren looked to break through for a one-on-one, a charging Izzo confidently left his line to make a great save, although Maclaren was also called offside.
40’ AUSTIN RUN: As he does, Austin worked his way in between two defenders from the left wing, his run ended up in the 18-yard-box where he was pulled down but the penalty shouts were waved away.
45’ FLURRY IN THE BOX: The ball was bouncing around in the Brisbane box with just moments remaining; Nick Fitzgerald & O’Donovan both had a stab but couldn’t beat Young.
49’ O’DONOVAN CHANCE: In his 150th game for the Mariners, Josh Rose broke forward and played a precision ball to the feet of O’Donovan. The Irishman took a great touch but just pushed his shot wide of the mark.
74’ AUSTIN SHOOTS: Austin used his power to create space on the edge of the 18-yard-box, the opportunity fell to his right foot and his shot was just over the crossbar
90+2’ GOAL DISALLOWED: Mariners fans were off their seats in the final minute of play when the ball was back in the Brisbane Roar’s net, unfortunately the goal was pulled back for offside.
Walmsley’s Words
“Obviously we’re in the middle of a difficult period in terms of results and performance. From a defensive point of view we looked at who are our out and out defenders, who can stop teams from scoring goals.”
“I’m reasonably happy with it, we just didn’t have the ball enough to stay with it for the full 90 minutes. Brisbane were great in possession, we clawed a bit of that back in the second half but in the first half it was about 70-30 in possession which is what they’re good at.”
“What we’ve done is gone out with a bang, there’s no way we could have pressed high all over the park in this heat today.”
“I’m looking forward to the next game to see how much further forward we can go with it against Sydney FC away.”
“I’m really proud about how they went about their business, we probably let ourselves down in the areas we talked about last week, just a little bit of lack of belief in possession to get on the ball and be comfortable on the ball.”
“You keep going, there’s no reason not to. You look at McGing & Ascroft who are 21 and 20 years of age and to put in a performance like that against Roar with Maclaren & Henrique then I’m not disappointed.”
“Fabio won’t be ready to start next week you’d imagine. The aim is to get him back to a starting position as soon as possible without putting him at risk.”
“We are keeping options open [in January] we’re talking to Everton, obviously we have financial constraints at this stage but would I like to? Definitely but I’m happy with what we’ve got, happy with where we’re going, not happy that we’ve lost five in a row but I’ve got to look in the mirror and say that’s reality. Let’s see how we tackle Sydney and if it’s anything like we tackled them last time and we can keep 11 men on the pitch then we might given them a good shake.”
“I wouldn’t put a marquee out of the question, if it was the right one that came along and it was the right balance between commercial opportunities and a big name player. If it’s something that lifts the fans and this community it would be absolutely fantastic and something that these young players would remember for the rest of their lives. I wouldn’t rule anything out at this stage.
Central Coast Mariners: 1.Paul IZZO (gk), 2.Storm ROUX, 3.Josh ROSE, 4.Jacob POSCOLIERO (10.Anthony CACERES 59’), 5.Harry ASCROFT, 6.Mitch AUSTIN, 8.Nick MONTGOMERY (c) (7.Fabio FERREIRA 77’), 9.Roy O’DONOVAN, 11.Nick FITZGERALD, 16.Liam ROSE (15.Matthew SIM 71’)
Unused substitutions: 40.Tom HEWARD-BELLE (gk), 19.Josh BINGHAM [if !supportLineBreakNewLine] [endif]
Brisbane Roar FC: 21.Jamie YOUNG (gk), 3.Shane STEFANUTTO, 7.CORONA, 8.Steven LUSTICA (18.Javier HERVAS 45’), 9.Jamie MACLAREN (11.Jean Carlos SOLORZANO 56’), 10.HENRIQUE (23.Dimitri PETRATOS 72’), 13.Jade NORTH, 14.Daniel BOWLES, 17.Matt McKAY (c), 19.Jack HINGERT, 22.Thomas BROICH
Unused substitutions: 36.Andre JANNESE (gk), 15.James DONACHIE
Yellow cards: Stefanutto 5’, Corona 27’, Ascroft 38’
Sunday 20 December 2015
Central Coast Mariners 0
Brisbane Roar 1
Venue: Central Coast Stadium, Gosford
Attendance: 5 124
Referee: Chris Beath
