A 10-man Central Coast Mariners conceded a heartbreaking goal to fall 2-1 at the hands of the Western Sydney Wanderers at Central Coast Stadium on Saturday, January 22.
After an evenly contested and feisty first 10 minutes, a defensive lapse resulted in an opening goal to Western Sydney with Storm Roux attempting to back pass only to have his ball pulled up short and Bridge poked home with ease.
New number 10, Luis Garcia entered the fray with about 30 minutes remaining of the second half. He received a warm welcome from the 13,000-strong home crowd and made an instant impact on the home side’s confi dence and demeanor. The Spaniard showed some serious signs of quality when he was on the pitch. Within minutes, Luis Garcia’s masterful footwork threaded the needle for Austin on the left wing who then delivered a perfect ball and Ferreira was on hand to tap home.
“The weight of the pass to put Mitch Austin through was superb and we scored from it so if he can have that sort of impact on the times he comes on, then we are on a winner,” said coach Tony Walmsley. “We’ve got players who make good runs and we need someone to fi nd them and he can certainly do that,” Walmsley said. After going a man down when Nick Montgomery was shown red, it was always going to be an uphill battle to withstand an attack from the league leaders.
“The red card obviously changed the game. “It made life diffi cult for us, but it’s the fourth game we’ve ended with 10 men and it’s not something I’m happy about,” Walmsley said. “I thought we were in the ascendency in the second half. “They couldn’t get the ball off us and we were creating chances, so with a little bit more quality on a couple of occasions, we could have grabbed something.” Santalab was the man who pounced on a crucial lapse in defence to seal the win.
“If you turn over the ball cheaply in the back third, they’re likely to get a shot on target. “Credit to Wanderers who capitalised on two mistakes.” Media release, Jan 23, 2016 Tyson Scott, Central Coast Mariners A-League leaders capitalise on two mistakes A 10-man Central Coast Mariners conceded a heartbreaking goal to fall 2-1 at the hands of the Western Sydney Wanderers at Central Coast Stadium on Saturday, January 22.
Photo: ccmariners.com.au