The Central Coast Mariners have fallen 4-1 to Perth Glory at Central Coast Stadium in their final game of 2018 courtesy of braces to Andy Keogh & Fabio Ferreira.
Central Coast Mariners 1 (Murray 73′) Perth Glory 4 (Keogh 3’ & 92’, Ferreira 23’ & 41’)
Congrats, @Jmuzza23 ?? ? @FOXFOOTBALL #CCMvPER #CCMFC #ALeague pic.twitter.com/dnCrlgtaJA
— Central Coast Mariners (@CCMariners) December 31, 2018
The run down
The shining light for the Mariners was a maiden Hyundai A-League goal to Jordan Murray which caps off a stellar 2018 personally for the young striker.
It didn’t take long for Perth to find the back of the net after Ivan Franjic’s cross made its way into the box. The original shot was saved well by Pearce, but Keogh was on hand to pick up the scraps.
Then in the 11th minute, the game was brought to a 40-minute halt when a Tomislav Mrcela collision with the goal post snapped the base. It was deemed that both goals would then need to be replaced with portable goals so play could resume as quickly as possible.
After the delay in proceedings, the Mariners came out flying and looked to take the game by the scruff of the neck. With a spring in their step, The Yellow & Navy brought the home fans to their feet with some promising attack. However, it was the goalkeeper that brought the biggest cheer when Adam Pearce was forced to make an impressive point blank save to deny Chianese in the 21st minute.
However, Perth doubled their lead just two minutes later when Ferreira headed home at the back post. Ferreira then made it three before half time when his cross floated into the top corner in the 41st minute.
Tommy Oar was another impressive prospect, coming onto the pitch for the final 20 minutes of play and creating a raft of attacking opportunities for the Yellow & Navy. It was Oar’s cross that ultimately created Murray’s goal that was scored in a flurry of late Mariners’ attacks.
Despite a strong finish, Glory had the final say with a goal to Keogh in stoppage time.
⚽ + ? + ? = NYE pic.twitter.com/CogT0KP6hS
— Central Coast Mariners (@CCMariners) December 28, 2018
GOALS:
3’ KEOGH GOAL (0-1): After Joel Chianese’s shot was blocked well by Pearce from close range, the Irish marksman was in the right place at the right time to fire home.
23’ FERREIRA GOAL (0-2): Jason Davidson broke down the left and delivered the perfect cross to the back post. Ferreira was on hand to head home.
41’ FERREIRA GOAL (0-3): Again, it was Ferreira, this time it was a cross that looped over the head of Adam Pearce to make it 3-0 before half time.
78’ MURRAY GOAL (1-4): Tommy Oar’s cross was on the money that found a leaping Matt Simon at the back post. Simon’s header back across the face of goal was directed perfectly to the feet of Murray who gave the Mariners’ fans something to cheer about.
92’ KEOGH GOAL (1-4): Keogh slots home from point blank range to double his tally for the night.
Mulvey in the media
“The break probably helped us to regroup and get some more aggression into the game We gave them far too much space in the first half. We coughed up possession, they didn’t need to work hard enough for their goals and we didn’t defend well enough.
“We’re looking at January to see if we can turn things around. We’ve had some positive talks upstairs and we are looking to see what we can do.
“What happened with the goals was unacceptable. The game was stopped for 40 minutes, it’s bad for all the people who were watching the football game. I would like to thank all the volunteers and the staff who worked hard to get the game going. But the situation was unacceptable.
“We’re clutching at straws to take positives, but Tommy Oar was a positive, Jordan Murray’s first A-League goal is a positive, Kye Rowles was fantastic, Aiden O’Neill played with an injury and was immense for us.
“I’ve been critical of us switching off at key moments this season, and it’s cost us again tonight,” Mulvey said
Central Coast Mariners: 12. Adam PEARCE (GK), 15. Kye ROWLES, 5. Antony GOLEC (10. Tommy OAR 69’), 3. Jack CLISBY (25. Jordan MURRAY 46’) 18. Matthew MILLAR, 8. Michael McGLINCHEY, 13. Aiden O’NEILL, 23. Mario SHABOW (4. Jake McGING 29’), 7. Andrew HOOLE, 11. Connor PAIN, 19. Matthew SIMON (c)
Substitutes not used: 1.Ben KENNEDY (GK) & 22. Jacob MELLING
Yellow cards: Simon 88’
Perth Glory: 33.Liam REDDY (gk), 2. Alex GRANT, 3.Jason DAVIDSON, 5.Ivan FRANJIC, 7.Joel CHIANESE (11.Brendon SANTALAB 75’), 9.Andy KEOGH, 13.Matthew SPIRANOVIC, 16.Tomislav MRCELA (6.Dino DJULBIC 87’), 22.Fabio FERREIRA (20.Jake BRIMMER 57’), 27.JUANDE, 88.Neil KILKENNY
Substitutes not used: 1.Tando VELAPHI (gk) & 17.Diego CASTRO
Yellow cards: 34’ Grant
Monday, 31 December 2018
Central Coast Stadium, Gosford
Crowd: 6048
Central Coast Mariners vs. Perth Glory
