Central Coast Mariners 0 Brisbane Roar 1 (Kristensen 33’)
The Run Down
A lone goal to Brisbane Roar’s Thomas Kristensen was just enough to secure a win for the away side that were almost taken by a late Mariners stoppage time surge.
After two away games the Central Coast Mariners were off to a bright start in front of the 7073 passionate supporters who braved the tough weather conditions at Central Coast Stadium.
On two occasions in the first 10 minutes the Mariners went agonisingly close to taking the lead through Blake Powell but Brisbane’s Michael Theo was up to the challenge.
The fans were out of their seats and so was Paul Okon when one of the shots thumped into the hand of a Roar defender inside the box. The screams for handball were waved away by referee Adam Fielding.
The Roar had their first chance of the evening 24 minutes in through Jame Maclaren but Izzo, who made three impressive saves to deny the young attacker throughout the match, was on hand to make his first of several impressive saves on the night.
The home team came out of the sheds firing in the second half and Connor Pain, who was dangerous on the left for his third consecutive match, found space on the flank and delivered a dangerous cross that was intercepted by Theo.
Similar to rounds one and two, the Yellow & Navy kept majority of the possession and created enough chances to take home the spoils but couldn’t edge the ball across the line.
The Central Coast fans were again off their seats for the final kick off the game that saw Mariners’ debutant Scott Galloway break down the right and deliver a pinpoint cross but the Roar scrambled well to hold on in the dying stages.
Goal
33’ KRISTENSEN GOAL: After a free flowing start to the game, Brisbane picked up possession on the edge off the box. Danish midfielder Thomas Kristensen tried his luck and found the back of the net to score the only goal of the match.
Paolo in the press
“The ball just wouldn’t bounce for us tonight, we weren’t as good with the ball as we have been in the past two games, we turned it over far too often in the first half and Brisbane moved us around a bit,” Okon said.
“We consumed a lot more energy than what we wanted to. We kept going, we gave away a silly goal, that makes the job a lot tougher, but we will just keep working hard and keep fighting for that first win.
“You always want to start the game well and of course the second half as best as you can, it normally sets a bit of a platform.
“If you can have good starts you want to try and make the most of it and get a goal and it is something that will give us more confidence that we can do that, but we still need to be a little bit more resilient.
“Had we have gone in 0-0 at half time, again it’s a different game, right at this moment we just can’t seem to stop teams scoring which makes it difficult to win football games if you’re always having to come from behind.
“Tonight’s performance is what you want from your goalkeeper, they were good saves and in terms of keepers, he is very young so he is going to make mistakes and that’s normal and tonight I thought his game was solid.
“He has waited for his opportunity and I think he stepped up, he just needs to continue to improve, get more confidence and hopefully continue to make the saves when we need him to.
“Fab is important to this team, he got to 60 minutes and was a threat when he had the ball, he gives us that x-factor we need, and hopefully he stays clear of any other injuries and he just continues to get better and better, and fitter and fitter.
“I still think that we didn’t have enough possession tonight to be more dangerous, we want to build pressure, we want to get into those areas and when we do we need to come up with the right decision,” Okon said.
Central Coast Mariners: 20.Paul IZZO (gk), 2.Storm ROUX, 6.Blake POWELL, 7.Fabio FERREIRA (12.Trent Buhagiar 62’), 8.Nick MONTGOMERY (c) (14. Adam Berry 68’), 9.Roy O’DONOVAN, 10.Mickael TAVARES (3.Scott Galloway 81’), 11.Connor PAIN, 19.Jacques FATY, 21.Michael NEILL, 22.Jake McGING
Substitutes not used: 1.Ivan NECEVSKI (gk), 17.Josh BINGHAM
Brisbane Roar FC: 1.Michael THEO (gk), 3.Luke DEVERE, 5.Corey BROWN, 7.Thomas KRISTENSEN, 9.Jamie MACLAREN (33.Joseph Katabian 89’), 10.Brett HOLMAN (28.Brandon Borrello 85’), 11.Tommy OAR, 13.Jade NORTH, 17.Matt MCKAY (c), 19.Jack HINGERT, 22.Thomas Broich
Substitutes not used: 21.Jamie YOUNG (gk), 4.Daniel Bowles, 8.Jacob Pepper
Yellow cards: Jacques Faty 60’, Connor Pain 76’, Luke De Vere 53’, Corey Brown 63’, Jack Hingert 84’
Saturday 22 October, 2016
Central Coast Stadium
Central Coast Mariners vs. Brisbane Roar
Attendance: 7073
Referee: Adam Fielding
