This week in the PS4 NPL 2, our men’s academy team host Canterbury Bankstown FC at Pluim Park whilst the women face an away trip to take on Inter Lions SC. We caught up with Will Vazquez & Dan Barrett to preview the fixtures.
Both the men and the women will be hoping to maintain their top four positions on the ladder after promising starts to their seasons.
Central Coast Mariners Academy vs. Canterbury Bankstown FC
The Men remain in third spot on the PS4 NPL 2 ladder and welcome a struggling Canterbury Bankstown FC side to Pluim Park this Saturday night. Kick-off is 4pm and entry is FREE!
The Under 18’s will be looking to bounce back from a disappointing 3-1 loss away from home to fellow A-League academy side, Western Sydney Wanderers. After conceding late in the first half the team responded almost immediately when Cameron Windust got on the end of a set piece to put the Mariners back on level terms at the break. The Mariners under 20’s also suffered a 3-1 loss and will be looking to get back to winning ways when they face 13th placed Canterbury this weekend.
The first-grade men remain in third spot on the PS4 NPL 2 ladder after scoring a late equaliser to bring home a crucial point against a strong Western Sydney Wanderers side. The Mariners Academy Men remain undefeated going into this weekend’s home match against the 12th placed Canterbury at Pluim Park.
We caught up with Will Vazquez who reflected on last week’s match and spoke about what the Mariners need to do, to claim three points.
“As expected the weekend was a real test against a very good Western Sydney outfit,” Vazquez said. “We had some great discussions as a group based off our performance from the weekend and agreed we want to produce more than the weekend’s showing collectively.
“As a coaching staff, we were happy with the team’s response and are looking forward to how they demonstrate this on the weekend against a team that hasn’t had a lot of results, but have shown they have a lot of quality. Canterbury are hungry for results so we will have to be at our best to be sure that we get back to the performances we know we can produce,” Vazquez said.
Match Details
Saturday, 28 April 2018
PS4 NPL 2 Round 9
Match: Central Coast Mariners Academy vs. Canterbury Bankstown FC
Venue: Pluim Park, Lisarow
Kick-off: 4:00pm
Inter Lions SC Women vs. Central Coast Mariners Academy Women
After a promising 3-2 win at home to Nepean FC last weekend our girls will be looking to do more of the same when they face 10th place Inter Lions SC away from home.
They remain in 4th spot with a game in hand and will be focused on bringing home the three points as they look to add the pressure on those above.
Stealing all the headlines for the women’s team is striker, Candice Phelan who is in red-hot goal scoring form. The exciting attacker has scored an amazing 14 goals in six games and will be hoping to build on that this weekend.
“It was a critical game last week in regard to us staying in the hunt with pace setters and I was extremely proud of the performance the team put in,” Barrett said. “It was our most complete performance thus far and the girls showed loads of improvement.
“The most pleasing aspect was the character our girls showed to come from behind. Contrary to the previous week where we couldn’t find the enthusiasm to get back into the match. We went up a gear not allowing Nepean time on the ball and launched quick attacking play in possession
“Tactically, as a coach I am getting to know my players better and the move of Mel Swinfield from 10 to a holder had a significant impact for us and allowed us to be more combative when pushed.
“This week is another challenge on the road, I’ll be looking for even more from our girls as we continue to build momentum at the pointy end of the league,” Barrett said.
Match Details
Sunday, 29 April 2018
PS4 NPL 2 Round 8
Match: Inter Lions SC vs. Central Coast Mariners Academy
Venue: Concord Oval, Concord
Kick-off: 3:00pm
