Stallions silenced by hungry young Mariners
The Central Coast Mariners Academy have extended their unbeaten run in the National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s First Grade to five games with a 2-0 win over third placed Marconi Stallions at Pluim Park on Sunday.
There was intrigue to see how the Mariners would fare in this round 15 clash as defender Dean Larson was missing his first minutes of the season for the home side. The defensive absentees doubled in the 10th minute when Sasha Kuzevski was forced from the field after heavy contact with his knee challenging for the ball.
Chances were at a premium during the first half with just three notable chances occurring.
The Mariners created their best chance of the half in the 8th minute through some brilliant team combinations through the middle of the park, with the final chance being cleared inside the box.
Marconi only managed to test Pat Beach on the one occasion in the 14th minute, with the Mariners goalkeeper diving to his right to deny the Stallions.
Just before half time in the 43rd minute Lachlan Bayliss skied a golden chance inside the box to send both teams square at half time.
The lacklustre first half didn’t continue into the second, with the Mariners creating a flurry of chances early on, likely spurred on from Abbas Saad’s half time team talk. Lachie Bayliss forced a good reaction save from James Hilton just a minute into the half, before Miguel Di Pizio scored the first goal of the game in the 49th minute.
Aidan Hammond received the ball on the halfway line and carried the ball through the middle of the park and found Di Pizio on the left corner of the box, with the forward firing his shot low and hard into the bottom-right corner.
The Mariners continued to dominate the chances and possession, forcing a number of corners to mount more pressure on the Stallions.
The Yellow and Navy doubled their lead in the 67th minute through a Di Pizio screamer. The attacker received the ball from Lachlan Bayliss in a very similar position to where he scored his first goal. Di Pizio hit his shot with real venom, with the ball rocketing into the top-right corner.
Marconi fought hard to try and force their way back into the contest, but the Mariners continued to shut down any potential threats from the visitors whilst attempting to catch them on the counter.
Nathan Millgate saw his header go wide for Marconi in the 87th minute, which saw a potential grandstand finish evaded.
Post-match Marconi Stallions coach Peter Tsekenis stated the energy and commitment displayed by the young Mariners was what won them the game.
“Overall, I thought Central Coast had very good energy, they didn’t back out of anything, and I think that won them the game today,” he said.
“That energy and commitment is something I expect from my team, and we didn’t really get to that level.
“We’ve pretty much battered the other academy teams, but today, Central Coast, their intensity was very good for a long period of time.
“We had to be at our best to beat them today and we weren’t, and we got punished.”
Tsekenis stated players returning from injury and a pre-match car accident disrupted their preparation for the match.
Despite this, though, the Marconi coach wanted to congratulate his opposition coach for a terrific job and former teammate Abbas Saad since joining the Mariners in round five.
“Congratulations to Abbas for getting the Mariners playing the way they are,” he said.
“He’s instilled a winning mentality and has them playing like men.”
Mariners manager Abbas Saad, meanwhile, was glowing with pride after securing their third win in a five match unbeaten run.
“I thought we were superb. We were hungry, we played great football. I thought our transition from back to front was slick, and we caused them a lot of problems,” he said.
“We probably could have scored more goals, but defensively we were superb. Marconi are a great team and we’re starting to believe that we’re a good team that can win games against big clubs.”
Saad did hint that academy teams in the NSW NPL Men’s competition were ‘handicapped’ because they could only play young kids, but the star of the show tonight was 17-year-old Miguel Di Pizio.
“Sky’s the limit for him,” Saad said.
“He’s a talented kid, and physically he’s already there. It’s unbelievable that at 17 he’s already the player he is. He’s super professional, he wants it, he’s hungry.
“I tell him that if he wants to go overseas, be ready so you can go overseas and stay overseas. Most of our kids go over not ready.
“He’s ready, he’s got a great attitude, and I really hope he goes all the way.”
Match Stats
Central Coast Mariners Academy 2 (Di Pizio 49’, 67’)
Marconi Stallions FC 0
Sunday 14th May, 2023
Pluim Park, Lisarow
Referee: Craig Fisher
Assistant Referees: Amirhossein Hosani, Matthew Harris
Fourth Official: Jackson Mackie
Central Coast Mariners: 30. Patrick Beach (GK), 2. Sasha Kuzevski (7. Aydan Hammond 12’ (23. Aidan Milicevic 74’)), 5. Cameron Windust (c), 6. James Bayliss, 8. Lachlan Bayliss, 9. Miguel Di Pizio (3. Max Middleby 81’), 12. Olayinka Sunmola (14. Marco Arambasic 74’), 15. Jordan Segreto, 16. Will Arnold, 18. George Daniel, 24. Zac Zoricich
Substitutes Not Used: 40. Anthony Pavlesic (GK), 22. Andre Parkes
Yellow Cards: L. Bayliss 62’, Arnold 90’ Daniel 90+4’
Red Cards: Nil
Marconi Stallions FC: 24. James Hilton (GK), 2. Nathan Millgate, 3. Giorgio Speranza, 4. Roberto Speranza, 5. Liam McGing, 6. Domenic Costanzo (21. Justin Vidic 68’), 8. Hiroaki Aoyama, 13. Aleksandar Duricic (11. Daniel Bouman 58’), 17. Martin Fernandez (9. Jordan Swibel 58’), 19. Kyle Cimenti, 23. Brandon Vella (c) (7. Chris Hatfield 83’)
Substitutes Not Used: 40. Aaron Hage (GK), 22. Taylor McDonald
Yellow Cards: Vidic 90’
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings
3 – Miguel Di Pizio (CCM)
2 – Lachlan Bayliss (CCM)
1 – George Daniel (CCM)
-By Cameron Smith
