First half goals to Louis Fenton and Sarpreet Singh saw the Central Coast Mariners fall to Wellington Phoenix in Wellington on Saturday evening.
Wellington Phoenix FC 2 (Fenton 9’ & Singh 45’) Central Coast Mariners 0
The run down
The Mariners came flying out of the blocks and had all of the early chances in the opening stages. Jordan Murray was making the most of his starting debut and was centimetres from opening the scoring when a cross found him at the back post. After controlling well, his shot was just over the crossbar.
Matt Simon was winning everything in the air and the Mariners wide men were doing theit best to create their first goal of the night. In the first half, the Mariners managed 17 balls into the box compared to Wellington’s four.
But the bright start was soured by two goals to the Phoenix where both Fenton and Singh both found the back of the net from point blank range in the 9th and 45th minutes of play which sent the Mariners into the sheds two goals down.
The two goals in the first half proved to be the difference with the Phoenix finishing 2-0 winners.
In a quieter second half, the Mariners were in a desperate hunt for a goal of their own but Wellington’s keeper Filip Kurto made a number of timely interceptions and saves to keep them at bay.
The Central Coast Mariners now turn their attention to the #F3Derby against the Newcastle Jets on Sunday December 23. Family tickets start from just $40.
Say hi to our new Community Manager, Joey Gibbs! ?? Find out how your school can get active with the Mariners in 2019. #CCMFC #ALeague pic.twitter.com/nCDPDObRc3
— Central Coast Mariners (@CCMariners) December 13, 2018
GOALS:
9’ FENTON GOAL (1-0): It took a diving save from Adam Pearce to deny Mandi’s stinging shot but it fell to the feet of Fenton and all he needed to do, was tap into an open net.
45’ SINGH GOAL (2-0): Offered too much space in the box, Krishna was able to find Singh who fired home from point blank range to double Wellington’s lead.
Mulvey in the media
“Not good enough.
“Football is about key moments. It’s not that we’re lacking in every stage of the game, we’re lacking in key moments. The players need to learn quickly that it’s very important otherwise you end up in the predicament that we’re in.
“You can explain why it’s important, have your structure right. But if you look at the goal they scored in the 9th minute. It came from a ball across the top of the box and the lad’s able to fire a shot from 25-yards-out. If you wind back the clock to Sydney, same happened with Brendan O’Neill. The goal last week against the Wanderers, same.
“We’re not going to hide behind any excuses. The facts are, we’ve got quite a number of players out. We’re not sure how long he’s going to be out [Ben Kennedy]. Adam Pearce came in today, he’s young and has a great future. We need to keep giving these younger players a chance.
“Everyone is hurting. It’s horrible to be in the situation we’re in. You can walk away or you can roll your sleeves up and work harder and that’s what I expect the players to do.
“We need to play from the first minute, we need to give our fans hope. They have every right to be saying here we go again. I’m with them on this. Coming into December I expected us to win four games. On the back of our game against Perth Glory away where we did well, I expected us to beat Sydney then you saw what happened, last week we weren’t as good against the Wanderers and we got turned over, then we were turned over again tonight.
“We need to wake up and smell the roses and decide what we want this football club to be like. I know what everyone outside the club is thinking – here go the Mariners again. This was a proud club, we need to take a deep breath, go home and decide what club we want to be,” Mulvey said.
Central Coast Mariners: 12. Adam PEARCE (GK), 3.Jack CLISBY (16. Josh MACDONALD 72’), 4.Jake McGING, 8. Michael McGLINCHEY (23. Mario SHABOW 72’), 11. Connor PAIN, 13. Aiden O’NEILL (7. Andrew HOOLE 63’), 15. Kye ROWLES, 18. Matthew MILLAR, 19. Matthew SIMON (C), 20.Kalifa CISSE, 25.Jordan MURRAY
Substitutes not used: 24.Joe GAUCI (gk) & 5. Antony GOLEC
Yellow cards: O’Neill 39’, Rowles 45+2’
Wellington Phoenix FC: 1.Filip KURTO (gk), 4. Armando SOSA PENA, 9. Nathan BURNS (11.David WILLIAMS 76’), 13. Liberato CACACE, 14. Alex RUFER, 15. Michal KOPCZYNSKI (9.Thomas DOYLE 46’), 16. Louis FENTON, 18. Sarpreet SINGH (23.Max BURGESS 90’), 21. Roy KRISHNA, 22. Andrew DURANTE, 27. Steven TAYLOR
Substitutes not used: 20.Oliver SAIL & 5.Ryan LOWRY
Yellow cards: Krishna 24’, Mandi 57’, Burns 71’, Singh 76’
Saturday,15 December 2018
Westpac Stadium, Wellington
Wellington Phoenix vs. Central Coast Mariners
