Stallions hold their nerve in victory over tricky Mariners
The Marconi Stallions secured a valuable three points at home, with a 2-0 victory over the Central Coast Mariners on Easter Saturday evening in round 8 of the National Premier Leagues Men’s NSW competition at the Palace.
The hard-fought battle saw two goals from two Marconi players returning from injury.
James Temelkovski netted the opener for the Stallions in the 66th minute, while Milislav Popovic sealed the deal for the hosts in the 94th minute.
The victory keeps Marconi near the top of the National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s ladder, keeping pressure on current leaders, Western Sydney Wanderers FC.
The hosts started the match strong, with a free kick for Marconi in a promising area in front of the goal in the 8th minute.
This gave captain Mario Jesic a great opportunity to take an early hold on the match, however his effort flew high.
The Stallions maintained pressure and found themselves with another opportunity minutes later through Domenic Costanzo, who returned to the pitch this week after a three-match suspension from a red card against Sydney Olympic in Round 4.
Costanzo maneuvered his way into position before attempting to slide a shot wide of Mariners ‘keeper Dylan Peraic-Cullen, but he couldn’t meet the target.
A counterattack from the Mariners saw them with a promising opportunity in the 25th minute, but their efforts were thwarted by Marconi’s defence.
The visitors saw a brilliant chance in the 31st minute through Niyonkuru, who played the ball forward to himself before making a blazing run, however Marconi’s George Daniel managed to catch up and strip him of the ball before he was able to let off a shot.
The hosts continued to mount pressure, creating numerous goal-scoring opportunities, however none could make it to fruition.
A corner in the 40th minute saw the Stallions come close as Nathan Millgate headed it into the area from the far post, but Cameron Windust’s effort met the hands of Peraic-Cullen.
After a half-time reset, both sides returned to the field to start the second half in a scoreless deadlock, with Central Coast getting the first opportunity of the second stanza in the 47th minute.
Unfortunately for the visitors their free kick just outside the 18-yard box from Bailey Brandtman met the defensive wall.
Costanzo had a shot at goal in the 48th minute, but it was well read and collected by Peraic-Cullen.
Marconi found the back of the net in the 54th minute as Jesic finished off a ball from Millgate, however the linesman’s flag was raised to call offside from the free kick.
The Mariners found the net moments later in the 55th minute but they also received an offside call as Brandtman tapped in a ball on the line.
A corner kick in the 66th minute finally led to the first goal of the match through substitute Temelkovski on his return from injury.
The corner kick from Costanzo met Temelkovski at the near post and the attacker confidently knocked his header over the line.
Luka Smyth fired a shot at the target in the 70th minute, by Marconi custodian James Hilton was well positioned to deny.
Temelkovski took a free kick in the 86th minute from a dangerous position outside the 18-yard box, however his effort flew high.
Costanzo managed a shot on target in the 89th minute as Temelkovski cut to him in the area, however Peraic-Cullen managed to deny.
Jesic sent a brilliant free kick towards the target in the 92nd minute, but Peraic-Cullen reacted well to punch the ball out of play.
The sustained pressure paid off for the hosts in the 4th minute of injury time through substitute Popovic.
Costanzo fired a shot towards the target and a diving Peraic-Cullen denied, but Popovic was quick to pounce on the resultant ball, firing it in from close range and securing the three points for the hosts.
Marconi coach Peter Tsekenis was pleased his team were able to be patient and secure the win against a threatening Mariners squad, with some impactful returns to his side.
“The boys are starting to come back, which is good, it’s good for them to get some minutes,” he said of the return of Costanzo, Temelkovski and Popovic.
“It’s good that they came on and made a difference.
“We were up against a really good, young Central Coast team that I’ve been watching all year and who have been very unlucky in games.
“I knew they were going to be tough, and we had to be patient and we did that and eventually got the reward.”
Central Coast Mariners coach Lucas Vilela was pleased his side was able to remain competitive against a challenging opposition.
“I think the boys were very competitive, we had some good chances,” he said.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t unload as many shots as we wanted when we had chances around the box.
“We knew we’d be playing a tough team, they’re not at the top of the ladder by luck, they have a strong team and good players.
“The boys, even when losing, they tried.
“In the last moments they were more focused on attacking than blocking shots and they [Marconi] got the second goal and we got punished.”
Match Stats
Marconi Stallions 2 (Temelkovski 66’, Popovic 94’)
Central Coast Mariners FC 0
Saturday 30th March, 2024
Marconi Stadium, Bossley Park
Referee: Craig Fisher
Assistant Referees: Matthew Harris and Thomas Dale
Fourth Official: Hayden Michlmayr
Marconi Stallions: 1. James Hilton, 2. Nathan Millgate, 3. Cameron Windust, 4. Anton Mlinaric (17. Milislav Popovic 85’), 6. Domenic Constanzo (21. Jakob Malbasa 95’), 7. Franco Maya, 10. Mario Jesic (14. Dylan Susovic 95’), 11. Hirokai Aoyama, 18. George Daniel, 23. Brandon Vella (9. James Temelkovski 46’), 25. Jonathan Soares (8. Daniel Bouman 59’)
Substitutes Not Used: 24. Mackenzie Syron
Yellow Cards: Aoyama 53’, Mlinaric 72’, Daniel 90’
Red Cards: Nil
Central Coast Mariners FC: 2. Michael Paragalli, 3. Cher Deng, 4. Andre Parkes, 5. Harry Menham (42. Alexander Gountounas 72’), 8. Lucas Scicluna, 10. Luka Smyth (13. Yani Nassis 72’), 11. Donatien Niyonkuru (12. Tate Hedley 60’), 16. Prayaag Thapa (22. Rocco Smith 91’), 37. Bailey Brandtman, 39. Adam Hall (7. Mates Busek 60’), 40. Dylan Peraic-Cullen
Substitutes Not Used: 20. Jai Ajanovic
Yellow Cards: Menham 34’, Niyonkuru 51’, Thapa 54’, Paragali 77’
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings
3 – George Daniel (MS)
2 – Nathan Millgate (MS)
1 – Anton Mlinaric (MS)
-By Madeline Riley
