Following last weekend’s home struggles, our Men’s sides aimed to capitalise on another week of home-field advantage at Pluim Park against Hakoah Sydney City East FC, while our Women’s sides ventured south to take on Sutherland Shire FA.
Men’s:
The youth boys ventured away to take on Marconi Stallions FC on Saturday, with all but one side coming away with maximum points.
13’s (2-1), 14’s (1-0), 15’s (3-2), and 18’s (2-0) showed their ferocity away from home, while the 16’s slugged out a nil all stalemate.
The senior men’s sides were at home for the second consecutive week, and the 20’s began the senior fixtures with a 3-1 victory against Hakoah.
Goals to Jordan Segreto, Zac Craig Waddell, and Teng Kuol all in the second half capped off another superb victory for the 20’s, keeping them at the top of the ladder.
With only 15 goals conceded all season, it well and truly proves their top dog status.
For first grade however, Andrew Christiansen’s men were looking to erase their defeat against Mount Druitt the previous weekend and reclaim their league’s first place crown against Hakoah.
Despite the home crowd energy behind them, Mariners were held to a 1-1 draw.
Captain Brad Tapp claimed the lone goal – his first of the season, finding the net in the 35th minute after chances from the team, including himself, couldn’t be converted.
Hakoah entered the second half with more tenacity and were rewarded with their efforts with Dominic Cox scoring in the 50th minute from a long thrown in routine.
While the home side had several chances late, they again couldn’t capitalise on opportunities and claim victory.
Coach Christiansen continues to praise his men’s efforts, though remains adamant his men need to be more clinical in front of goal.
“The boys are disappointed about the results over the past two weeks,” said Christiansen.
“We are working hard to improve and be better, but we need to more clinical in front of goal.”
Mariners take on Western Sydney Wanderers this weekend, with a top spot privilege on the line.
Women’s:
It was a little sour start to our youth girl’s fixtures on Sunday, with our 14’s unfortunately conceding their first loss of the season to Sutherland 4-0.
Both teams share equal points, though Sutherland’s superior goal difference puts them ahead.
Despite this sour note, the remaining youth sides brought some sweetness to the table with some emphatic victories.
15’s won 4-0, while an extraordinary performance from our 16’s saw them put ten goals past Sutherland to their one.
Shifting onto our senior women’s fixtures and it was a pleasing sight for the 20’s in a commanding 4-2 victory at home, boosting them into fourth position.
Alike the first-grade men’s side it wasn’t to be for Peter Preston’s women, falling 2-1 to Sutherland.
Sutherland opened the scoring through Lily Hart to head into half time up 1-0, though Mariners struck back shortly after the break through Chloe Smith, her 14th of the season.
Mariners were unable to find the lead, though a 78th minute goal to the hosts in Alina Stojcevski handed the visitors the three points.
Coach Preston was proud of his side’s integrity to stay in the game throughout, disappointed though with the end result.
“The girls hung in there after going down 1-0 at the half and started the second half well to get the early goal,” said Preston.
“The team played well for 25-30 minutes, but unfortunately conceded against run of play.”
“We pushed hard late for no result.”
Mariners remain adrift from finals positioning and will look to next week’s match against Camden Tigers FC to reignite their finals push for the remaining ten rounds.
