An entertaining goalless F3 Derby sees the Mariners end Newcastle’s eight-game winning streak.
It doesn’t come much bigger than the F3 Derby, and Saturday’s edition at polytec Stadium had all the makings of a cracker.
Newcastle arrived on an eight-game winning streak; meanwhile, the Mariners were unbeaten in five and pushing to break into the top sis.
The home side started brightly, with Kaito Taniguchi lively down the left in the opening exchanges. However, the opportunity fell to the Jets. In the 15th minute, Will Dobson met the ball on the volley inside the area, only for Andrew Redmayne to produce a sharp save to keep the scores level.
The Mariners were forced into an early change in the 18th minute when Storm Roux was forced off through injury, with Jacob Nasso entering the game. Newcastle thought they had struck shortly after when Eli Adams found the net in the 20th minute, but the goal was ruled out due to offside in the build-up.
Central Coast’s injury concerns continued as Miguel Di Pizio was replaced by Alfie McCalmont in the 29th minute.
The Mariners carved out a promising move in the 35th minute. Lavale surged forward and combined neatly with Auglah, who slipped the ball to McCalmont, but his effort was directed straight at Ryan Delianov.
James Donachie, last week’s hero, nearly rose to the occasion again in the 39th minute, powering a header goalward only for Delianov to deny the centre back. At the other end, Donachie turned saviour, clearing Lachlan Rose’s effort off the line after the Jets forward looked certain to score. Rose then rattled the crossbar moments later from the resulting corner.
It was an enthralling first half, but neither side could find the breakthrough.
Newcastle began the second half on the front foot, applying early pressure without reward. The Mariners responded after the hour mark, enjoying their most dominant spell of the match. Between the 54th and 62nd minutes, the hosts registered five shots to none.
Lucas Mauragis tested Delianov from distance, while Taniguchi sent a long-range effort soaring into the big screen behind the goal.
The Mariners came agonisingly close in the 80th minute when Sabit Ngor burst down the left and delivered a superb ball across the face of goal, but it just evaded Lavale.
Both sides were pushing for a winner in the final stages as Newcastle enjoyed most of the possession but were unable to convert their dominance into a goal.
At full-time, neither side could break the deadlock. The Mariners halted Newcastle’s eight-match winning streak but also extended their own unbeaten run to six games.
Central Coast Mariners head coach Warren Moon recapped the performance in his post-game interview.
“Really proud of the boys and how we adapted.” Later, saying, “We could have come away with three points if luck had gone our way.”
The Mariners now hit the road for a date with Macarthur FC on Wednesday night.
