FOOTBALL
The Mariners have been forced to settle for another draw at Central Coast Stadium against Perth Glory on Sunday, February 13 due to a Perth goal in injury time.
The 1-1 result was a repeat of Thursday evening’s match against Macarthur FC where a 3-2 lead to the Mariners was undone by the visitors past the 90 minute mark.
The Mariners and Glory both worked hard in the midfield battle but both lacked a clinical edge for shots on goal.
Mariners goalkeeper, Mark Birighitti, was called on early in the match to deny Aaron Calver’s out-of-the-box shot from dipping into the top corner – a positive response after conceding two similar goals against Macarthur.
The first half finished deadlocked at 0-0 and it took another 10 minutes for the hosts to find the advantage.
In the 58th minute, Jason Cummings put away his second A-League goal, his first in Gosford, assisted by Marcos Urena.
Lewis Miller’s initial pass into the attacking sector was well controlled by Urena, who turned sharply to work the space and guide the ball onto his left boot.
A deft chip cross over the Glory defensive line was controlled by Cummings with a single touch off his chest and a simple dink into the net.
The Mariners sought to maintain their grip on the game with dominant possession and passing play.
The team was able to do so until a final slip, three minutes into injury time, was caused by a breakdown in communication within the defensive line.
The desperate Glory defence sent forward a ‘Hail Mary’ lob into the attacking third in the final minute of play and it was allowed to reach the penalty area unchecked.
The scrambling Mariners defence left Glory midfielder, Daniel Stynes unmarked and a low, cross-goal driven strike took Birighitti by surprise.
For Mariners Head Coach, Nick Montgomery, the final minute was a moment of “déjà vu” in remembrance of the Macarthur game earlier in the week.
“(It was) a really poor goal for us to concede, we should have finished the game off in the second half,” Monty said.
“We had some big chances… if you put them away you can probably concede that goal in the last minute and still win the game, but for that to be an equaliser that takes away two points is very disappointing.
“Our emotions are upset (and) disappointed, I’m hurting for the boys because they put in a lot of effort out there, especially after a couple of days ago when we went through the same range of emotions.
“But we have to pick ourselves up now, we’ve got a week to recover and then we’ve got a couple of big games in Melbourne.”
First up, this will be a return to AAMI Park to again face Melbourne Victory at 7:45pm, Saturday February 19.
The Mariners will hope to upset the result from their last match against Victory, falling behind 2 – 1 in the FFA Cup Final at the same venue.
A match against Melbourne City on tuesday, February 22 will again test the boys in yellow, who will need to get back into winning ways if they are to make movements back into the top six teams.
Haakon Barry