St George City remain unbeaten against the Mariners with tight victory
The Central Coast Mariners Academy have once again failed to defeat St George City, going down 2-0 in their Round 25 National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s encounter at Pluim Park on Sunday.
St George City are unbeaten in their previous nine matches against the Mariners, winning seven and drawing two coming into this match.
The first half was almost a tale of two halves in itself, with neither side creating a chance in the opening 20 minutes, before both sides created multiple chances after that.
The first major chance came in the 22nd minute through Aydan Hammond. The Mariners forward was heavily involved in the set play but was denied by a brilliant save by Yaren Sozer.
The former Mariners goalkeeper was called into action again in the 26th minute to smother the ball from Ben Dunbar. The fullback was played through by Hammond who beat three challenges on the halfway line before playing in his teammate.
St George were the dominant side in terms of possession early in the game, but didn’t challenge Jack Warshawsky until the 25th minute through a Kosta Petratos shot inside the box.
City almost found the opening goal in the 36th minute with two quick-fire shots inside the box, but the Mariners defence stood firm and blocked the efforts.
A loose pass from the Mariners five minutes into the second half saw Franco Maya pick up the ball and beat the challenge of Jordan Segreto. He then beat Will Arnold for pace and fired his shot into the bottom-left corner beyond Warshawsky.
Kosta Petratos looked to double City’s lead in the 56th minute with a venomous effort of typical Petratos fashion, but it was fired over the bar.
One of the most recent signings for the Mariners Luke Oresti looked to return serve for the home side with a long-range effort of his own, only to be denied by a top save from Sozer.
The Mariners shifted formations to a back four which allowed their wingers to push further forward and their midfielders to gain more control.
The change allowed the Mariners to create more opportunities at the St George midfield dropped deeper to hold onto their one goal lead.
As it turned out, it was St George who would in fact double their lead in stoppage time through Marley Peterson. The ball was played square along the ground to the unmarked Peterson who tapped it home on his return to Pluim Park.
St George manager Mirko Jurilj stated his team deserved the victory today.
“I thought we should have put the game to bed in the first half,” he said.
“They had a couple of good chances in transition, but I think in terms of chances we were the better side.
“We died off a little bit towards the end, but overall, I thought we were deserving of the three points.”
The win now means that St George City are now nine games unbeaten away from home, a record which Jurilj can’t explain.
“We’ve only lost once away all season which is crazy when you think about it,” he said.
“We don’t put any emphasis on it, so it’s a little strange.
“We’re used to stoppage time goals against these guys as well,” he laughed.
“It’s pleasing though, this isn’t an easy place to come and they’re a good young team.”
Meanwhile Mariners manager Abbas Saad was proud of his team for their performance despite the loss.
“We had some great moments in the game and I’m proud because we competed,” he said.
“We had about three-quarters of our team were under 19 years of age today. We’ve lost a lot of players to A-League squads and international duty in recent weeks so it’s tough, but that’s our role as an academy.”
The Mariners have lost Lachlan Bayliss, Cameron Windust, Dean Larson, Miguel Di Pizio and others, with more likely to get call ups in the coming weeks as the A-League side begin their pre-season training.
Match Stats
Central Coast Mariners Academy 0
St George City FA 2 (Maya 51’, Peterson 90+2’)
Sunday 23rd July, 2023
Pluim Park, Lisarow
Referee: Danny Horstead
Assistant Referees: Lindsay Edmonds, Arianth Gobinath
Fourth Official: Logan Jones
Central Coast Mariners: 30. Jack Warshawsky (GK), 7. Aydan Hammond, 11. Bailey Brandtman, 15. Jordan Segreto, 16. Will Arnold, 18. George Daniel (2. Harry Menham 59’), 21. Maksim Kasalovic (14. Luke Oresti 46’), 22. Andre Parkes, 24. Zac Zoricich, 26. Max Middleby (34. Gianni Di Pizio 59’), 35. Ben Dunbar (10. Nicholas Duarte 69’)
Substitutes Not Used: 20. Dylan Peraic-Cullen, 38. Noah Steinacker
Yellow Cards: Kasalovic 24’
Red Cards: Nil
St George City FA: 1. Yaren Sozer, 2. Pedro Ferrari, 3. Daniel Alessi (c), 4. Brendan Hooper, 8. Dominic Cox, 11. Kosta Petratos (10. Paolo Mitry 74’), 14. Dean Pelekanos, 23. Franco Maya, 24. Alex Kyriacou, 30. Presley Ortiz (9. Marley Peterson 74’), 99., Matt Keremelevski (70. Yeresimakis Petratos 58’)
Substitutes Not Used: 7. Nathan Roberts, 12. Jack Kenny, 16. Mohammed Khamis
Yellow Cards: Cox 4’, Keremelevski 55’, K. Petratos 74’
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings
3 – Franco Maya (STC)
2 – Aydan Hammond (CCM)
1 – Pedro Ferrari (STC)
-By Cameron Smith
