It was a successful weekend in Sydney for the Central Coast Mariners men’s and boy’s academy sides, coming away with four wins and a draw out of seven matches.
The NPL first grade side secured their first victory of the season over NWS Spirit FC, while it was a positive weekend in many of the boys age groups.
First Grade vs NWS Spirit FC
The Central Coast Mariners men’s first grade NPL side came away with their first victory of the 2023 season on the weekend, defeating NWS Spirit FC 1-0.
Travelling to face Spirit, who had only lost once so far this season, the side were undermanned with the likes of Maksim Kasalovic, Sasha Kuzevski, Cameron Windust and Nicholas Duarte all in the A-League Men’s squad.
Despite this the Mariners put on a masterful first half performance, looking the better side throughout the first 45 minutes.
Lachlan Bayliss was mere inches away from scoring a spectacular goal from halfway, with the referees deeming that the ball had not crossed the line.
Instead the midfielder converted just six minutes later, scoring off a rebound from Spirit’s goalkeeper.
A composed second half saw the Mariners see out the game, resulting in an important three points coming back to the Central Coast.
Under 20’s vs NWS Spirit FC
The Central Coast Mariners Under 20’s academy side fell to a tough 3-1 loss against NWS Spirit, holding well in the first half before a heartbreaking last second goal.
A 45th minute strike from Zachary Kalogerou handing the home side the lead, with Abuzar Awaz doubling his sides advantage in the 53rd minute.
Aziz Dajani got his teams third of the night in the 64th minute, with the Mariners having work to do to get back into the match.
An 80th minute strike from Zachariah Waddell pulled one back for the Mariners, however it was simply too late in the match, acting as merely a consolation goal.
Youth Boys vs Blacktown City FC
After a tough start to the morning for our Academy Youth Boys, the day soon ended on a high with extremely positive results.
The under 13’s side lost 5-0 in a difficult matchup, struggling to get momentum in a tough match. The under 14’s getting our first points of the day, a 1-all draw.
We got our first three points through the under 15’s side, keeping a clean sheet in their first away match of the season. A deserved 3-0 win capping off a pleasing performance.
For the under 16’s it was a little bit tougher, earning the victory the hard way. A 2-1 win their first three points of the season, bouncing back from a tight loss to Sydney Olympic.
The Under 18’s also secured their first win of the season, a 2-0 win that included a solid clean sheet. The Mariners securing 10 out of a possible 15 points, including all of the last nine.
