Mariners continue strong form in thrilling clash with Mt Druitt
The Central Coast Mariners have extended their winning streak to three with a hard-fought 2-1 win over Mt Druitt Town Rangers at Popondetta Park on a chilly Saturday night.
With the Mariners producing some late-season magic and Mt Druitt needing a win to further itself away from a relegation battle, the scene was set for a highly anticipated fixture.
It was the Mariners who opened the scoring in the 25th minute after a stellar bit of play between Bailey Brandtman and Aydan Hammond.
The Mariners held the lead going into the halftime break but looked destined to extend their lead after missing a few golden chances.
Mt Druitt was first to answer back in the second half after the skipper Tarik Elrich became the beneficiary of some great link-up play to put his side back in the contest.
The winning moment of the game came in the 80th minute when substitute Aidan Milicevic was on the receiving end of a perfectly placed pass from Brandtman and neatly finished his chance.
After a back-and-forth opening period of the game, it was the hosts were gifted the first chance of the game as Tarek Elrich overpowered a close-range free kick in the 8th minute.
The set-piece chance was a wake-up call for the Mariners as they began to put some serious intent into their attacks for the remainder of the half.
Aydan Hammond began to make his presence felt on the game as his partnership with Bailey Brandtman causing the Mt Druitt defence a lot of issues.
Dylan Niski was called into action when Hammond made his way into the box and with his curling effort headed to the top corner, the keeper made a stellar effort to deny the Mariners an opener.
With both teams continuing to trade blows in attack, the hosts came closest when Jackson Bandiera’s piercing effort was deflected goal bound but narrowly missed the target.
After a short period of attacking excellence from the Mariners, the deadly combination of Brandtman and Hammond gave the visitors the opener.
Making his down the byline, Brandtman shoved off the pressure of Elrich before sending the ball to open Hammond who powerfully placed his chance in the back of the net.
The goal scorer’s momentum was quickly halted when he was a yellow card for a dangerous challenge just moments after the opener.
As the game began to even back out, it was Bandeira who nearly levelled the game for the hosts after a sensational run down the line led him to the front stick and hitting a well-placed shot that was tipped away by Warshawsky.
Hammond continued to wreak havoc on the home defence with another strong solo run that capped off with another stellar save from Niski.
As the halftime whistle blew, the Mariners held a 1-0 lead and looked to maintain the momentum heading into the final 45 minutes.
It was the hosts who got off to a stronger start in the second half looking determined on both sides of the ball.
Against his former side, Olayinka Sunmola was agonisingly denied a super goal when his powerful effort bounced off the bounce and inches away from the goalmouth.
It took the Mariners around 20 minutes after the restart to kick into gear after being held in their own end for the majority of that period.
The Mariners capitalised on a quickly taken free kick as George Daniel fled into open space before playing Zac Zoricich who sliced his shot and missed a golden opportunity to double the lead.
As the temperature began to drop, the intensity on the field began to heat up and it wasn’t long before Mt Druitt deservedly levelled the score.
In an impressive fast play between Solomon-John Monahan-Valika and Shunta Nakamura gave Elrich a near-open one-on-one to give his side their first goal which he neatly buried.
The hosts very nearly found themselves in the lead when Sunmola made a promising run into the box and got a curling shot off but was once again denied by the safe hands of Warshawsky.
Mt Druitt was denied by the post again as a Nakamura’s effort slammed back against the woodwork, leaving the home faithful stunned.
The host’s pressure in attack was undone by a bit of brilliance Brandtman after his dangerous run led him into the box and allowed him to lay off a pass to substitute Aidan Milicevic.
With an open net ahead of him, Milicevic made no mistakes and promptly broke the hearts of the Popondetta Park fans.
Mt Druitt continued to push desperately for an equaliser and were nearly rewarded when Monahan-Valika was given space and launched a long-range shot that forced an even better save from Warshawsky.
With the hosts committing nearly everyone forward the Mariners were given one last counterattack to put the result beyond doubt.
Milicevic set up the final chance of the game with his perfectly placed ball into the path of Hammond and with his effort heading goal-bound, Niski came to the host’s rescue again.
A few more late pushes from Mt Druitt were all they could muster as they fell to an in-form Mariners side ready to pounce.
After a frustrating night in front of goal, Mt Druitt coach Stuart Montgomery didn’t hide his disappointment in the result but saw positives in the performance.
“We created a lot of chances, we were sloppy in the back third, the two goals they scored we should’ve done better and that was really the difference on the night,” he said.
“We had the desire, but we just couldn’t execute, at the end of the day when you make mistakes like that at this level you can’t win.”
Mariners coach Abbas Saad emphasised his pride with the team as they continue on an impressive winning streak.
“I’m proud, I just told them how proud I am, their work rate, the togetherness, it’s a good family atmosphere, that’s what we built,” he said.
“We played football, I thought we were superb in the first half, we were brilliant, I was disappointed that we only had a one goal lead but credit to them they came at us in the second half… I’m super proud and we just have to keep going.”
Match Stats
Mt Druitt Town Rangers FC 1 (Elrich 67’)
Central Coast Mariners 2 (Hammond 25’, Milicevic 80’
Saturday 1st July 2023
Popondetta Park, Emerton
Referee: Ivica Covic
Assistant Referees: Patrick Teleki and Amirhossein Hosnani
Fourth Official: Rebecca Mackie
Mt Druitt Town Rangers FC: 20. Dylan Niski, 4. Cooper Coskerie (43. Abdelelah Faisal 87’), 5. Jacob Esposito, 8. Henry Davies 10. Kotaro Katsuta, 11. Jackson Bandiera, 15. Anthony Gallo (12. Will Harvey 64’) 21. Tarek Elrich, 22. Rhett Desilva (2. Solomon-John Monahan-Valika 64’), 27. Olayinka Sunmola, 40. Shunta Nakamura
Substitutes not used: 6. Jared Macerola, 25. Vasos Kartambis, 19. Junyong Jin, 42. Bailey Jacobs,
Yellow cards: nil
Red cards: nil
Central Coast Mariners: 30. Jack Warshawsky, 3. Cameron Windust, 4. Dean Larson, 5. Nathan Paull, 7. Aydan Hammond, 11. Bailey Brandtman, 15. Jordan Segreto, 16. Will Arnold, 18. George Daniel (19. Aidan Milicevic 67’), 21. Maksim Kasalovic (26. Max Middleby 67’), 24. Zac Zoricich
Substitutes Not Used: 8. Zacariah Waddell, 20. Dylan Peraic-Cullen, 22. Andre Parkes, 27. Harry Meneham
Yellow cards: Hammond 26’, Brandtman 90’
Red cards: nil
Player Ratings
3: Bailey Brandtman – (CCM)
2: Aydan Hammond – (CCM)
1: Shunta Nakamura (MD)
By NPL NSW Men’s Reporter Dominic Criniti @DominicCriniti
