Mariners eclipse Ilinden in first half blitz
Central Coast Mariners Academy heaped further misery on Rockdale Ilinden who lost their third successive match thanks to a lightning first half display to record a 3-1 victory at the Ilinden Sports Centre on Sunday.
Olayinka Sunmola opened the scoring with a deft side-footed flick beyond Ilinden second choice keeper Ricardo Rizzo, making his senior debut, before Lachlan Bayliss netted from the spot and Cameron Windust powered home a header in first-half stoppage time.
Nikola Ujdur added a consolation goal for the hosts but it was to be too little too late as the Mariners celebrated a monumental victory.
The match saw its first talking point in only the second minute when Alec Urosevski was sent tumbling in the box from behind only for referee Karl Davies to wave play on before advantage was given only for the ball to be forced out for a corner before Jaden Casella warmed the hands of Patrick Beach in the Mariners goal.
Ilinden then made life difficult for their guests and penned them back in their own half making it almost impossible for the young Mariners to push forward.
Urosevski, smartly working space for himself down the left, sent in a great ball to the back stick only for Casella to volley agonisingly over the bar in a delightful Rockdale move with the visitors yet to muster an attempt on goal.
Finally the Mariners worked Rizzo midway through the half when Sunmola tamely shot from the edge of the area, the Ilinden gloveman handled well in the greasy conditions. Rizzo, a former Mariner himself, was stepping in for the injured David Bradasevic who was nursing a problematic back issue.
Beach was then forced to punch out a thundering Brendan Cholakian effort, again after good work down the left and cross from Mathieu Cordier, and followed it up by palming over a shot from Isaac Danzo.
The chances were beginning to come thick and fast against the visitors stretched defence but Paul Dee’s men were unable to take advantage of these opportunities.
The missed chances came to hunt the hosts as Sunmola flicked home the opening goal from a tight angle in the 32nd minute against the run of play, in what was a well worked goal for the visitors.
Sunmola almost nicked a second minutes after using his electric pace to get in behind the Ilinden defence but a great save from Rizzo foiled the effort.
The pendulum swung the Mariners way and the visitors won themselves a penalty in the 33rd minute.
Lachlan Bayliss made no mistake from the spot-kick as he notched up his third goal of the 2023 NPL NSW Men’s campaign.
Rockdale’s woes continued further when two became three after Cameron Windust headed home powerfully from a corner in stoppage time at the end of the half leading to an unlikely scoreline as Abbas Saad’s young troops were floating on cloud nine.
The home side needed to respond quickly after the break however the Mariners were buoyed by their three goal lead and looked to extend it further as Jordan Segreto sent his shot over the bar early on.
A plethora of substitutions did little to alter the balance of the match as Rockdale were finding it difficult to break down the stacked and solid defence of the Mariners.
Maddox Barthou replaced Lachie Griffiths to make his senior debut when Rockdale switched to a back three in the hopes of pushing forward and reducing the deficit but also left themselves susceptible to the break.
Sunmola could and perhaps should have rounded off his afternoon in style but after terrific lead-up work fired across the face of the goal when he exploited the open space left by Rockdale’s attacking players.
The home side did manage to get on the scoresheet and that was thanks to a quality header from Ujdur in the 87th minute but it was to be the last real talking point of the match as the Mariners ran out 3-1 victors.
Mariners coach Abbas Saad was buzzing with joy after seeing his side record only their second victory of the 2023 campaign.
“After the first half an hour I felt we dominated the game, we played with a lot of freedom and that’s what I want to see from the boys,” he said.
“The hardest thing to coach into young boys is to get the message across that they are good enough and to have that self-belief to go out and show the world what they have.
“I want the players to be brave, to express themselves and play football and they did that today.
“We set out to hold Rockdale at bay in the opening half, not an easy thing to do against a very strong side, and part of the game plan was to look to hit them on the break and we executed that perfectly today.
“This is the best I’ve seen Rockdale play in many years and to beat them on their own ground is an absolutely fantastic feeling but I want the players to build on this and believe in themselves for the rest of the season.”
Ilinden coach Paul Dee was a disheartened figure at the final whistle as he could not believe how the match transpired following his side’s missed opportunities.
“It’s very hard to accept the position we found ourselves in at half-time,” he ruefully stated.
“Considering our display from the opening minute to their first goal is very disappointing.
“Two quick chances on the break after the thirty minute mark and we’re two-nil down and a lapse of concentration marking the set piece in stoppage time and that was pretty much the end of the story for us today.
“We created chances for ourselves but couldn’t finish them but momentum works both ways. We had it for a while when we were winning and now it’s turned full circle and we need to get back to the basics that were winning us games.”
Match Stats
Rockdale Ilinden 1 (Nikola Ujdur 87’)
Central Coast Mariners Academy 3 (Olayinka Sunmola 32’, Lachlan Bayliss 33’pen, Cameron Windust 45+1)
Ilinden Sports Centre, Rockdale
Sunday 23rd April 2023
Referee: Karl Davies
Assistants: Logan Jones and Matthew Harris
Fourth Official: Charbel Geha
Rockdale Ilinden: 20. Ricardo Rizzo, 3. Lachie Griffiths (41. Maddox Barthou 73’), 4. Nikola Ujdur, 7. Alec Urosevski, 8. Isaac Danzo, 10. Brendan Cholakian (77. Peter Kekeris 61’), 11. Lochie Constable, 14. Brayden Sorge, 17. Loic Puyo, 23. Jaden Casella, 6. Mathieu Cordier
Subs not used: 5. Will Mutch, 6. Nikola Kuleski, 16. Mo Ahmed, 26. Steven Kriezis
Yellow Cards: Mathieu Cordier 30’, Lachie Griffiths 45’, Lochie Constable 90+3’
Red Cards:
Central Coast Mariners Academy: 30. Patrick Beach, 2. Sasha Kuzevski (3. Joshua Hong 70’), 4. Dean Larson, 5. Cameron Windust, 6. James Bayliss, 8. Lachlan Bayliss (7. Aydan Hammond 66’), 9. Miguel Di Pizio, 12. Olayinka Sunmola (14. Marco Arambasic 83’), 15. Jordan Segreto (17. George Daniel 83’), 16. William Arnold (21. Maksim Kasalovic 66’), 24. Zac Zoricich
Subs not used: 40. Anthony Pavlesic
Yellow Cards: Jordan Segreto 83’, Joshua Hong 87’, Maksim Kasalovic 88’
Red Cards:
Player Ratings
3 – Olayinka Sunmola (CCM)
2 – Cameron Windust (CCM)
1 – Brayden Sorge (RI)
By NPL NSW Men’s Reporter Micky Brock
