Stallions ride high in first place after beating Mariners
The Marconi Stallions delivered a quintessentially classy performance as they solidified their place at the top of the ladder via a 3-0 win over the last-placed Central Coast Mariners.
This matchup saw two sides sitting in opposite positions on the ladder facing each other, with Marconi unbeaten heading into this fixture and the Mariners sitting rock bottom
Though Central Coast were missing players due to injury, suspension, and A-League Men’s duties, coach Lucas Vilela would have been proud of his side for matching it with the reigning champions at times throughout the ninety minutes.
The two sides began with intent by pressing high up the pitch in an effort to force a mistake out of their opposition.
This led to the first chance of the match as Mariners right-back Rocco Smith was caught out by Marconi attacker James Bayliss in his attempt to play out on the edge of the 18-yard box. Marko Jesic pounced for a strike that was blocked by a Mariners defender and safely collected by Adam Pavlesic in goal.
Central Coast took the fight to the league leaders in the early stages of the opening forty-five, however Marconi were not overawed and remained calm as they gained a foothold on the match in possession.
In the 7th minute, Matej Busek’s low cross into the box was haphazardly cleared by a Mariners defender, and fortuitously landed at the feet of Jake Trew who thought he had less time to shape his strike and ended up hitting a tame shot straight at Pavlesic.
The Mariners, who were admirably committed to playing out from the back from the outset, almost put themselves into strife a few seconds later as Pavlesic found himself facing two Marconi players and had to run through and clear to prevent what would’ve been a clearcut Stallions chance.
A few minutes later Ben Mewett did well to muster a decent cross in a tight situation on the left flank, however Harper Ryles’ header was easily collected by James Hilton in the Marconi goal.
Dom Costanzo’s brilliant cross-field ball opened up an opportunity for the Stallions to open the scoring, with the resulting low cross to the near post being met by Jesic, who could only steer his strike into the side netting in the 15th minute.
Marconi had back-to-back chances blocked in the 29th minute, the first arriving after Jesic showed real quality to pull a Mariners defender into midfield and play a superb through ball in behind for Trew to run onto. The Stallions No. 14 then squared it for Busek, who saw his effort blocked and proceeded to setup Bayliss for a strike that deflected off of a defender and out for a corner.
Former Mariner George Daniel did brilliantly to race onto an errant Mariners pass from out the back and slalom his way through before picking his moment to fire a low strike that beat an outstretched Pavlesic and rolled into the back of the net. 1-0 to Marconi in the 31st minute.
Busek attempted to double the lead soon after in the 34th minute, however his speculative strike from distance was unable to trouble the Mariners.
Hilton stood strong to deny the Mariners an equaliser in the 42nd minute after right-back Luca Pecora linked up with Ryles before darting into the 18-yard box and receiving the pass back, but he could only hit it right at the goalkeeper.
A minute later and Marconi were up the pitch putting the Mariners under pressure themselves, with Jesic’s powerful strike being saved by Pavlesic before Tyren Burnie picked up the ball on the edge of the box and tested the Mariners No. 1 again, forcing an even better save out of the keeper.
After a tense opening forty-five minutes with chances falling the way of both sides, Marconi would head into the halftime break 1-0 up.
Composure and team chemistry has benefitted the Stallions hugely yet again this campaign, and they showcased this perfectly in the 52nd minute when Jesic arrived unmarked at the edge of the 18-yard box to guide a low cross home with an assured strike into the bottom right corner. 2-0 to the Stallions.
Jesic would cause problems for the Mariners again in the 57th minute after meeting a corner at the near post to force a terrific reaction save out of Pavlesic with a darting header.
A pinpoint cross from Costanzo would give Marconi’s veteran No. 10 the chance to score yet again a minute later, however his header from a good position was collected by Pavlesic.
The Mariners struggled to keep a hold of possession as the second half went on, which Marconi’s crop of attacking talent took advantage of to generate several forays at goal. One of these chances ended in their third of the evening, as Bayliss picked up a loose ball to play through Costanzo, who setup Jesic on the overlap for his brace in the 63rd minute.
Jesic would almost notch a hattrick in the 84th minute in a similar manner to his first goal, having picked up a pass that was setup perfectly just inside the 18-yard box. However, his subsequent strike would ultimately drift wide of the far post.
Despite a decent patch of momentum in the middle of the second half, the Mariners would spend much of the final period of the match in their own half as the Stallions stayed in control of the game.
The Stallions amassed a late flurry of chances in what was a frenetic way to close out the match, with substitute Milislav Popovic striking the crossbar with a flick-on at the near post before Jesic was unable to collect his strike and proceeded to fire over the bar.
The match would ultimately conclude 3-0 in favour of the home side, who displayed the class and assurance that has come to be expected from them this season.
Match Stats
Marconi Stallions 3 (Daniel 31’, Jesic 52’ 63’)
Central Coast Mariners 0
Saturday 19th April, 2025
Marconi Stadium
Referee: Hayden Langholz
Assistant Referees: Daniel Cornofsky & Jasper White
Fourth Official: James Makris
Marconi Stallions: 1. James Hilton, 2. Tyren Burnie, 3. Cameron Windust, 5. Lachlan Griffiths, 6. Domenic Costanzo, 8. James Bayliss (16. Liam Youlley 78’), 10. Marko Jesic, 14. Jake Trew (11. Milislav Popovic 66’), 18. George Daniel, 23. Brandon Vella (12. Julian Monge 78’), 24. Matej Busek (15. Jawad Rezai, 67’)
Substitutes Not Used: 20. Patrick Williams, 22. Aleksander Gvozdenovic.
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
Central Coast Mariners: 1. Adam Pavlesic, 2. Luca Pecora, 4. Rocco Smith, 5. Ben Mewett, 11. Jai Rose (31. Fynn Sadler 66’), 13. Logan Sambrook, 14. Angus Reid, 15. Freddie Clunas (6. Jordan Small 66’), 19. Prayaag Thapa (12. Ty McKibbin 89’), 21. Muginga Mpota, 39. Harper Ryles
Substitutes Not Used: 17. Jesse Mantell, 28. Callum McCaskey, 40. Joel Wade
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings
3: Marko Jesic (MS)
2: Domenic Costanzo (MS)
1: James Bayliss (MS)
Words by Matthew Badrov
