FOOTBALL
Several young Mariners players took advantage of their opportunity to be in the starting eleven to lift the Mariners to a much-needed 4 -2 victory over the Macarthur Bulls in Mudgee on Saturday evening (March 19).
The Mariners went to Mudgee’s Glen Willow Stadium missing many of their experienced players including skipper Oliver Bosanic, Ben N’Kololo and Dan Young.
However, goals from rising stars Matt Hatch and Noah Smith complemented a brace from the ever-dangerous Marco Urena and punctuated a dazzling display from the blue and yellow.
Urena’s opening goal in the 27th minute off a dashing lead from Jason Cummings forced a triple change from Bulls coach Ante Milici, a new A-League record for the earliest such change.
Cummings looked dangerous throughout, missing an early one-on-one chance but providing plenty of assists, including a near miss from Hatch that sailed over the crossbar late in the game.
Other youngsters, Cy Goddard, Harry McCarthy and (a cleanly head-shaven) Jason Farrell were also in good touch early before Goddard succumbed to an injury to make way for Hatch.
McCarthy also left the field after 18 minutes with an ankle injury and will have scans this week.
Goals for the Bulls’ Mariappa in injury time of the first half and La Rose in the 88th minute provided some consolation.
Mariners Coach Nick Montgomery was very pleased with the win.
“I’ve got belief in these young boys, they’ve got a lot of character – I’ve worked with them for the last couple of years in the NPL,” he said after the match.
The strong form of the young substitute players may well present some selection dilemmas for the Mariners coach.
“We’ve got a seven-day break and hopefully we should have some boys back in the squad … but when the boys perform like that, I’ve always been fair, if you put the performances in, you stay in the team.”
The win pushes the Mariners up to eighth place on the ladder, just four points adrift of the top six, with five games to play.
The Mariners will now play Adelaide at Central Coast Stadium this Saturday, 26 March with kick off at 7:45pm – another must win game if they are to feature in the finals.
Ross Barry