APIA’s Premiership hopes put on the back burner as Mariners secure vital victory
The Central Coast Mariners have grabbed a major mid-week round 17 rescheduled shock victory, prevailing 3-2 over APIA Leichhardt at Lambert Park to move off the bottom of the NPL Men’s NSW’s ladder and by doing so, putting the breaks on APIA’s quest to challenge Rockdale Ilinden for the Premiership for the time being on Wednesday evening.
The Central Coast Mariners made an exceptional start, scoring within the first two minutes against their opponents.
An incisive pass from Bailey Brandtman found the feet of Nicholas Duarte in the box, who cleverly laid the ball off to Taye Hedley.
Hedley was denied by a good save from Alexander Parkes, but the follow up fell straight to the feet of Duarte, who blasted the ball into the back of a free net to set the match alight.
APIA looked to equalise in the fifth minute, with searching cross-field pass from Sean Symons finding the feet of Jordan Segreto, but the APIA forward struck over the bar from inside the box.
However, two minutes later they found their reply, with Michael Kouta restoring parity in a blistering opening to the match.
A floated corner in from Jack Armson found Themba Muata-Marlow at the back post, who powered a header towards the goal.
The effort found the feet of Kouta, who, mere metres from goal, tapped the ball home to cancel out the Mariners’ early opener.
Following their goal, APIA continued to pile on the pressure, with Central Coast’s defence desperately clearing against their opponents’ waves of attacks.
However, the Mariners then went down the other end, with an energetic run and strike from Arthur De Lima taking a wicked deflection and almost sneaking in at the far post.
Off the resulting corner, the Mariners took the lead once more, as Duarte added a second to the scoreboard for both him and his side.
A whipped, outswinging corner was tapped home by the striker, as Central Coast took a shock lead again.
In the 27th minute of this exhilarating, topsy turvy clash, APIA found an equaliser once more, as Sean Symons thundered home from close range.
The goal was created from a positive, meaningful run from Seiya Kambayashi, who laid off the ball to Sean Symons before attacking the space in behind on the left flank.
After receiving the ball, he took on his opponent and attacked the byline, before cutting the ball back with an enticing pass.
Symons, who had followed the attack from left-back, latched onto the low cross, and made no mistake in finding the top-right corner with a scintillating APIA move.
APIA, who had created the better of the chances in this end-to-end clash, almost took the lead in the 31st minute.
A good pass through from Jordan Segreto found Jack Armson in behind, who was denied by Dylan Peraic-Cullen, with the goalkeeper rushing out quickly to stop the chance.
From the follow-up, Dakota Askew curled a left-footed shot towards goal, but he couldn’t find the far corner, as Peraic-Cullen made another important save.
In the 42nd minute, the Mariners were given a golden opportunity to take the lead for the third time of the first-half, after a heavy touch from Muata-Marlow allowed Bailey Brandtman in behind.
From point-blank range, the Mariners youngster found himself in a one-on-one with Alexander Parkes with a good deal of time, but somehow couldn’t find the target from inside the box against the stranded goalkeeper.
Three minutes later, Brandtman had another chance, forcing a save from Parkes from an acute angle with a stinging strike.
That was the last chance of the most chaotic of first halves, which featured 12 shots at either goal over the course of a thrilling, bewildering 45 minutes of action.
In the first fifteen minutes of the second half, APIA dominated, but the Mariners defence stood strong.
16 minutes in, APIA had their first major chance of the first-half, with a poked through-pass from Segreto finding Kambayashi, but with time to finish in line just 12 yards from goal, he couldn’t find the target.
The second half was far more subdued compared to the electric first-half, but it followed a similar trend, as the Mariners took the lead once more with a well-constructed counter-attack.
A direct drive from Donatien Niyonkuru allowed him to find Brandtman in the centre, who calmly rolled the ball out to Arthur De Lima on the right.
The winger cut inside his man and produced a beautiful finish, powering the ball into side netting from inside the box
The 73rd minute goal put APIA in a precarious position, with three points necessary in their bid to catch Rockdale at the top of the ladder.
As the minutes ticked on, both sides became increasingly desperate, with APIA fighting for an equaliser and the Mariners doing all they could to hang onto a crucial three points.
It was the Mariners who prevailed, as they held on strongly to move off the bottom of the ladder with a vital victory.
Match Stats
Central Coast Mariners FC 3 (Duarte 3’, 23’, De Lima 73’)
APIA Leichhardt FC 2 (Kouta 8’, Symons 23’)
Wednesday 10 July, 2024
Lambert Park
Referee: Craig Fisher
Assistant Referees: Lance Greenshields and Patrick Pike
Fourth Official: Jerry Bitas
Central Coast Mariners FC: 40. Dylan Peraic-Cullen, 2. Michael Paragalli, 3. Cher Deng, 4. Parker Williams, 6. Jordan Small, 7. Arthur De Lima (17. Jai Rose 79’), 8. Lucas Scicluna (C), 9. Nicholas Duarte, 12. Taye Hedley (11. Donatien Niyonkuru 62’), 37. Bailey Brandtman (10. Luka Smyth 79’), 42. Alexander Gountounas (22. Rocco Smith 62’)
Substitutes Not Used: 20. Jai Ajanovic
Yellow Cards: Brandtman 37’, Paragalli 85’, Deng 87’, Peraic-Cullen 89’
Red Cards:
APIA Leichhardt FC: 20. Alexander Parkes, 2. Seiya Kambayashi, 14. Jack Armson (7. Jack Stewart 63’), 15. Themba Muata-Marlow, 16. Sean Symons, 17. Jordan Segreto, 18. Adrian Ucchino (C) (41. Nicholas Azzone 63’), 19. Luigi Ditroia (8. Nick Sullivan 77’), 21. Michael Kouta, 22. Edward Caspers (9. Maksim Kasalovic 77’), 23. Dakota Askew (30. Alex Denmead 77’)
Substitutes Not Used: 27. Evan Davis
Yellow Cards: Ucchino 59’
Red Cards:
Player ratings:
3 – Nicholas Durate (CCM)
2 – Dylan Peraic-Cullen (CCM)
1 – Seiya Kambayashi (APIA)
By Jack George (@JackGeorge0004)
