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Central Coast Mariners
Football Club
THURSDAY 6th AUGUST
2009
Mariners kick off version 5
in spectacular style
The Central Coast Mariners may have been written off by many ahead
of Hyundai A-League 2009/10 season, but the team itself was
unsurprised with its performance, after a dominant 2-nil win away
to the defending Champions Melbourne Victory.
With Melbourne keeping a low profile during the pre-season the
Mariners may have been forgiven for not being quite sure what to
expect of the defending champions, who started brightly enough,
with Kevin Muscat playing a long ball to Tom Pondeljak, whose ball
in was well dealt with by Nigel Boogaard.
Glen Moss was called into action on eight minutes to easily deal
with a Boogaard throw in flicked on by Brad Porter, but two
minutes later, the task at hand was far less enjoyable for the
Victory custodian.
Boogaard won a free kick in a dangerous position in the right
channel, and the home side’s defence was unable to deal with John
Hutchinson’s free kick, allowing Matt Simon to blast home past
Moss, and create history as the Hyundai A-League 2009/10 season’s
first goalscorer.
Two minutes later, Hutchinson stepped up in a similar position,
his set piece this time cannoning off Simon’s back, but the
Mariners wouldn’t have to wait long to double their advantage.
Chris Doig pumped the ball up to Adam Kwasnik on the left, who cut
back allowing Michael McGlinchey to launch a 25-yard effort on
debut. The diminutive Scotsman’s effort taking a somewhat
fortunate deflection off Roddy Vargas, to nestle in the back of
the net, and make it 2-0.
The Mariners were looking solid at the other end too, Pondlejak
was put through on 22 minutes and layed off for Archie Thompson,
but the Qantas Socceroo was well shut down by Boogaard and Alex
Wilkinson.
Moss was again called into action to cut out a Simon cross
destined for Brad Porter, while at the other end, a Danny Allsopp
header flashed wide of the back post after a Pondlejak cross.
Allsopp was denied by Danny Vukovic one-on-one, however Matthew
Breeze had already found a foul by Thompson on McGlinchey, and as
the half wound down, the Mariners defence again stood tall to
clear, after Vukovic’s initial block of a dangerous ball in from
Thompson.
Brad Porter missed the target from a corner early in the second
half, but from there the hosts were to enjoy a long period of
dominance.
Carlos Hernandez and Danny Allsopp were both off target after
receiving openings, while Pedj Bojic and Dean Heffernan both made
important clearances to diffuse Melbourne raids.
The hosts best chance of the match came just before the hour, when
Thompson whipped a good ball in from the right, and a charging Tom
Pondeljak fired a first time effort marginally over the bar.
Hernandez then saw a 30-yard rocket slide wide of the left hand
post, as the Mariners continued to keep Melbourne at bay.
As the Victory’s frustrations grew, the pendulum slowly swung back
the Central Coast’s way. Dylan Macallister was introduced and won
a free kick on the edge of the area, which saw Bojic fire over,
before charging down a Moss clearance.
Michael McGlinchey and Adam Kwasnik both made dangerous runs into
the Melbourne box, but neither were able to get shots away, but it
mattered little, as the Mariners proved the critics very wrong,
with a gutsy 2-nil victory over the Premiers on their home turf.
The Mariners first home match of the Hyundai A-League 2009/10
season is against local rival Newcastle Jets on Friday, August 14.
Tickets are available online at www.ticketek.com.au <http://www.ticketek.com.au>
or by phoning 132 849.
Mariners Memberships for the Hyundai A-League 2009/10 season are
now available online at www.ccmariners.com.au <http://www.ccmariners.com.au>
or by phoning 1300 767 442.
Match Details
Central Coast Mariners 20. Danny Vukovic (gk), 4. Pedj Bojic, 5.
Brad Porter, 7. John Hutchinson, 8. Dean Heffernan, 14. Michael
McGlinchey (22. Nicky Travis 80’), 16. Nigel Boogaard, 17. Chris
Doig (21. Ahmad Elrich 72’), 18. Alex Wilkinson (c), 19. Matt
Simon (11. Dylan Macallister 64’), 23. Adam Kwasnik.
Unused Subs 1. Andrew Redmayne (gk).
Yellow Cards Boogaard 17’, Wilkinson 39’, Porter 63’, Hutchinson
67’, McGlinchey 78’, Travis 90+2’
Red Cards None
Goals Simon 10’, Vargas 15’ (og)
Melbourne Victory 20. Glen Moss (gk), 2. Kevin Muscat (14. Billy
Celeski 73’), 6. Leigh Broxham, 7. Matthew Kemp, 8. Grant Brebner
(22. Nicky Ward 76’), 9. Daniel Allsopp, 10. Archie Thompson, 12.
Rodrigo Vargas, 15. Tom Pondeljak (11. Ney Fabiano 64’), 16.
Carlos Hernandez, 19. Evan Berger.
Unused Subs 1. Mitchell Langerak (gk).
Yellow Cards Berger 40’
Red Cards None
Goals None
Referee Matthew Breeze
Crowd 18,855 |
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