Western Sydney Wanderers 4 (Castelen 8’, Santalab 36’ & 52’ Nichols 83’) Central Coast Mariners 1 (Garcia 21’)
The Run Down
Despite an impressive header by Luis Garcia the Central Coast Mariners have fallen to a Western Sydney Wanderers’ four-goal haul courtesy of strikes to Romeo Castelen, Brendon Santalab (x2) and Mitch Nichols.
The Yellow & navy faced a tough proposition at Pirtek Stadium and there was no bigger ask on the pitch than the challenge that faced 19-year-old ‘keeper Adam Pearce who made his Hyundai A-League debut. There was little Pearce could do to stop all four goals and the youngster looked confident through out the 90 minutes, putting in a great shift
Liam Rose & Luis Garcia worked in tandem in the middle of the park unleashing the likes of Josh Rose and Mitch Austin on the flanks through out the match with Roy O’Donovan also looking dangerous on occasions.
Western Sydney Wanderers showed why they are pushing for the Premiers’ Plate and were far too good in front of their vocal home crowd.
Full attention turns to our final Hyundai A-League match of the season where we host the Newcastle Jets in the #F3Derby at Central Coast Stadium.
Goals
8’ CASTELEN GOAL: After making a few early grabs in possession, there was nothing that Pearce could do about Castelen’s strike to open the scoring. The hit from just outside the area sizzled into the top of the net.
21’ LUIS GARCIA GOAL: Who else but Luis Garcia? The five foot seven Spaniard charged forward on a lurching run and found himself on the end of a Mitch Austin cross that he headed home with ease.
36’ SANTALAB GOAL: Castelen pulled the trigger on a powerful shot that Pearce did well to keep out. Unfortunately Santalab was there to play home the spoils.
52’ SANTALAB GOAL (2): Santalab found himself on the end of an impressive cross and headed home from close range giving Pearce no chance to make a save.
83’ NICHOLS GOAL: It was Bridge who worked hard in the lead up to create the goal but Nichols was in the right place at the right time to charge home and score from close range
Walmsley’s words
“Firstly, credit to the Western Sydney Wanderers, they were too strong today and when you do equalise you do think there’s a little bit of hope,” Walmsley said.
“The gap between the two sides today was evident throughout and they were too good.
“Today Adam Pearce made his debut, a 19-year-old keeper who did a great job,
“It’s my accountability, it’s my team so it’s about what’s the solution and that’s the bit that stimulates all of us. The club is in the best shape it’s been in off the pitch and on the pitch it’s in the worst position it’s ever been in, so that’s the next part of the journey.
“We know with experience and leaders around some of these boys who are showing in parts of games that they can compete, their learning will be accelerated but at the moment they can’t compete with Western Sydney Wanderers over 90 minutes.
“We are uncomfortably assessing the season. The harshest lessons are the ones you learn the most from but if the lessons are learnt the way they should be then we should be able to fix it and if I didn’t think that I would walk away.
“There’s an incredible belief in what it is we set out to do, it got a few serious knocks along the way this season that have contributed to where we ended up but the mood in the camp is fantastic.
“Can we do it against the Jets next week? I think so and I would love nothing more than to give our fans something to cheer about like they haven’t had the majority this season.
“We’re looking for at least four players with the right level of experience from any part of the world.
“We can’t make a recruitment error now. Any player that comes in needs to be on the pitch for 27 games and delivering and taking some of these players with them along the ride.”
Western Sydney Wanderers: Redmayne (gk), Neville, Alberto, Jamieson, Baccus (Pepper 87’), Andreu, Castelen (Vidosic 62’), Nichols, Bridge, Santalab (Cole 69’)
Central Coast Mariners: Pearce (gk), Poscoliero, Ascroft, McGing, Neill, L. Rose, Stella (Ferreira 62’), J. Rose, Garcia (Fletcher 83’), Austin (McDonald 69’), O’Donovan
Scorers: Castelen 8’, Garcia 21’, Santalab 36’, 52’, Nichols 83’
Yellow Cards: Rose 35’, Baccus 40’, Neville 90’+1
Conditions: 23°C, dry
