Central Coast Mariners Academy took home all three points in their relegation battle at Sutherland Sharks on Saturday, thanks to a 94th minute penalty from Lucas Scicluna.
It was a fairly cagey first half at Seymour Shaw Park, as could be expected with so much riding on the game at the bottom end of the table, but both sides did have early sighters.
First, Donatien Niyonkuru got in behind the Sharks defence on four minutes, latching onto Rocco Smith’s searching ball, he lofted the ball over the onrushing Nenad Vekic but his effort fell just wide of the post.
10 minutes in, Levi Sciuriaga had free-kick in a promising position for Sutherland but couldn’t keep his effort down.
There was another chance for Sciuriaga on 27 minutes, he struck low after a driving run but Jack Warshawsky got down well to make the save, the most notable action from the first half.
Five minutes into the second half, a sweeping move from back to front from the Mariners found Harry Menham with space down the left hand side, he let fly with his left foot and Vekic was forced into an acrobatic stop.
The hosts had a flurry of efforts around the hour mark, but Warshawsky was assured with his handling to deny Sciuriaga’s long range effort and Jay McGowan’s dangerous cross, before also keeping out McGowan’s well-struck volley on 74 minutes.
The Mariners defended resolutely and would be given a golden chance to win the game in added time. After Scicluna’s raking pass was headed forward by Menham, youngster Jai Rose latched onto the ball and was too quick for Mitch Stamatellis who brought him down in the box.
Captain for the day, Scicluna took the responsibility from the spot and calmly sent Vekic the wrong way to seal a massive victory for Lucas Vilela’s men.
The win sees the Mariners leap above Sutherland and into 12th place, with three games to go in NPL NSW.
The Mariners’ next match is at home to fifth placed Wollongong Wolves next Sunday, 3:30pm kick-off at Pluim Park.
🗣 Vilela: “We’ll keep ourselves grounded”
Mariners Academy Head Coach Lucas Vilela was of course delighted with the result, but credited Sutherland in his post-match interview with NPL NSW‘s Micky Brock, whilst reinforcing the relegation fight is not over yet, with three huge ‘finals’ to play.
“We knew it would be a tough game as Sutherland has been playing some good football lately.” Vilela said.
“I think they deserve to be in a better position [on the ladder] but we had two teams that went out to play football today and we knew we had to do our best and fight until the end.
“I have to give everything to my guys as they kept fighting and created the chance to win the game in what was a very even contest but unfortunately for [Mitch] Stamatellis, he touched our player and we won the penalty to give us the game.
“Thankfully we have the quality to put it away and get the three points but it’s not over yet and we still have the ‘Finals’ to play before the end of the season, three massive games so we’ll keep ourselves grounded and prepare for what is to come.
“Obviously we’re delighted with the result, particularly after losing a point during the week, it’s a big three points for us but we have to build on that now.” Vilela reinforced.
