Melbourne Victory 2 (Finkler 16’ & 19’) Central Coast Mariners 1 (Sim 89’)
The Run Down
A first half brace to Melbourne Victory’s Gui Finkler in the space of three minutes has cancelled out Matt Sim’s 89th minute header where the home side recorded a 2-1 win over the Yellow & Navy.
Despite fighting until the end in true Mariners’ style, the Yellow & Navy couldn’t rectify a quick flurry of Finkler brilliance that gave Melbourne Victory all three points.
Full attention now turns to Sunday November 29 where the Mariners are set to host Western Sydney Wanderers at Central Coast Stadium in front of a bumper crowd.
Goals
16’ FINKLER GOAL: A classy goal for Melbourne Victory opened the scoring, Gui Finkler and Oli Bozanic teamed up for a back heel one-two play at the top of the box, Finkler finished his one-on-one opportunity from inside the area.
19’ FINKLER GOAL (2): A Finkler special, the Brazillian bent his dead ball around the wall to double the home side’s lead.
89’ SIM GOAL: For the second time in two weeks Matt Sim was the super sub. ‘Simmy’ leapt above the pack from a set piece and headed home from close range to breathe some life into the final minutes of play but unfortunately it wasn’t enough for the Mariners.
Key Moments
10’ BOZANIC BLAST: Bozanic attempted to be the third former Mariner to score against the Yellow & Navy this season, he pulled the trigger from just outside the 18-yard-box but his shot was just over the crossbar.
41’ O’DONOVAN HEADER: Storm Roux has been impressive down the right flank all season and his first half was no different. Roux created space for himself in the corner and curled in a cross to O’Donovan who’s attempted header flew wide.
48’- 49’ MONTGOMERY SHOOTS: The skipper looked to take proceedings into his own hands with a cracking shot from just outside the area. Victory’s custodian was up to the challenge but the Mariners almost struck from the corner to follow up through a Storm Roux header.
74’ BINGHAM RUN: Half time substitution Josh Bingham had a half chance to finish from inside the area but the youngster was swamped by Victory defenders which took all of the sting out of his shot.
Walmsley’s Words
“The first half just wasn’t us, we were on the back foot, Victory are a good side and we weren’t doing A the things we practiced and B what we’ve been doing earlier in the season.”
“But apart from a mad five minutes where Victory scored twice they weren’t actually tearing us apart, our fullbacks weren’t doing what they normally do, not bombing forward or overlapping and the ball speed was well down.”
“Our centre backs stayed deep, didn’t press up so we didn’t do what we normally do but we pushed Monty into midfield because we knew he would give us energy and he did that and I was really pleased with how we came out in the second half.”
“We talk a fair bit about belief in that dressing room and when you’ve got so many young players it’s easy to assume they’re just going to step out and do exactly what you’ve asked them to do but if they’re at all hesitant or slightly on the back foot, if that’s even half a step off you’re going to get punished and that’s what happened tonight.”
“The first half was our least entertaining half of the season.”
“But we put more into the second half, players were on their last legs with a short turnaround, all of that’s factored in and against the Champions.”
“Credit to them, we’ve got work to do, we’ve been better in recent weeks so it’s one we will put behind us and fix next week at home.”
“Mitch Austin could have a broken foot, so we could be going into the game against the Wanderers with Fabio Ferreira out and Mitch Austin out, two of the best wingers in the competition.”
“We’ve lost 2-1 at Victory, it’s not the end of the world, we won’t be all doom and gloom about it and say let’s start all over again, we’re juggling a thin squad, we’re driving them everyday and today was a step too far but we’ve got Wanderers at home next week and I can’t wait.”
“It’s 100 percent commitment to this strategy, the point where we choose another approach is the point where you accept you can’t play attacking football anymore.”
“I’m not prepared to put out a counter attacking, defensive team in a competition that demands entertainment, we weren’t close to it tonight which is disappointing.”
“You lose 2-1 to Victory away you cop it on the chin, you go back to work and try to prepare better for the following week.”
“As long as I’m here we will never take a step back in trying to play with some adventure, it’s hard without your two best wingers.”
Melbourne Victory squad: 1.Danny VUKOVIC (GK), 5.Daniel GEORGIEVSKI, 6.Leigh BROXHAM (c), 7.Gui FINKLER (33.Joseph KATEBIAN 92’), 9.Kosta BARBAROUSES, 13.Oliver BOZANIC, 14.Fahid BEN KHALFALLAH, 16.Rashid MAHAZI, 17.Matthieu DELPIERRE, 18.Dylan MURNANE, 19.George HOWARD (11.Connor PAIN 69’)
Unused Subs: 20.Lawrence THOMAS (GK), 24.Thomas DENG
Yellow Cards: Barbarouses 63’, Makarounas 82’
Central Coast Mariners: 1.Paul IZZO (GK), 2.Storm ROUX, 3.Josh ROSE, 4.Jacob POSCOLIERO, 5.Harry ASCROFT 6.Mitch AUSTIN (19.Josh BINGHAM 46’), 8.Nick MONTGOMERY (c), 9.Roy O’DONOVAN, 10.Anthony CACERES, 11.Nick FITZGERALD (20.Anthony KALIK 79’), 24.Jake ADELSON (15.Matthew SIM 58’)
Unused Subs: 30.Adam PEARCE (GK), 16.Liam ROSE
Yellow Cards: Poscoliero 20’, O’Donovan 43’, Adelson 56’, Montgomery 67’
Thursday 19 November 2015
Melbourne Victory 2
Central Coast Mariners 1
Venue: AAMI Park, Melbourne
Attendance: 16 669
Referee: Ben Williams
