De Lima the hero as Mariners continue their fight for survival
The Central Coast Mariners revival continues to click into overdrive thanks to a heart stomping 2-1 victory over Sydney Olympic FC moving them off the foot of the ladder at Netstrata Jubilee Stadium on Saturday.
A memorable brace from Mariners young gun Arthur De Lima in the 26th and 76th minutes saw the Central Coast take a massive step towards avoiding relegation. It is just their second win from their last 14 games away from home but signs are clear that the Mariners will be fighting till the end to stay in the NPL Men’s NSW competition for another season.
The action started in the 7th minute as Luis Scicluna was gunning to clear the ball away as he ended up doing a somersault over Michael Vakis.
One-minute later the game’s first brilliant chance hit centre stage as Vakis unfurled his shot from long range only to be met by an outstretched Jack Warshawsky who thwarted the attempt with a fine fingertip save.
Two-minutes after that classy stop from the Mariners goalkeeper the match was halted due to a unforeseen blackout at the stadium which delayed the match for several minutes.
When play resumed, both rivals came out all guns blazing as the Mariners scored first in the 26th minute thanks to a scrumptious strike from De Lima. The exciting teenager took his chance with a bullseye header after being put on the end of a sharp, curling ball from Taye Hedley.
Eight-minutes later Olympic equalised after captain Adam Parkhouse found himself situated just centre metres away from goals, as he effortlessly scored to squared the ledger.
As the second half got going, the Mariners threatened to break it wide open after Donatien Niyonkuru raced down the sidelines only to be fouled by Zac Zoricich. However, the ensuing free kick from a promising position brought nothing as Olympic escaped unscathed.
The Mariners continued to be fearless in their pursuit of a winner after Luka Smyth bounced his shot up and off the crossbar midway through the second half.
Teng Kuol did his best to counter Smyth on the 70-minute mark as he nearly found his way through the Central Coast’s defence with a scintillating run disposed of by Rocco Smith.
Smith’s stop proved vital as less then ten minutes later the Mariners conjured up the winner courtesy of De Lima. After the Mariners initial attempt thumped off the post he smashed the rebound in emphatic style and it was game set and match as the visitors celebrated a monumental victory away from home.
Energetic Mariners striker Luka Smyth relayed his thoughts after his side’s massive victory.
“This win was massive for us as we fought extremely hard and stuck to our game plan. It’s paramount in the relegation battle that we continue to attack the opposition.
“The results are coming from us trusting our coach and trusting each other. That has got us into form.
“While we expect to be fighting hard for the rest of the season and putting in 100% effort like we’ve been doing recently.”
Match Stats
Sydney Olympic 1 (Adam Parkhouse 34’)
Central Coast Mariners 2 (Arthur De Lima 26’, 77’)
Saturday 13 July 2024
Netstrata Jubilee Stadium, Carlton
Referee: Adrian Arndt
Assistant Referees: Maddy Allum and Amirhossein Hosnani
Fourth Official: Matt Staples
Sydney Olympic: 2.Peter Politis, 4.Michael Glassock, 6.Jack Simmons, 8.Sam Mcillhatton, (9.Oliver Puflett 54’), (10.Darcy Burgess 54’), 11.Adam Parkhouse, 12.Zac Zoricich, (13.Liam Rippon 85’), 14.Michael Vakis, 15.William Mutch, (17.Abraham Majok 79’), 18.Teng Kuol, (19.Gianni Di Pizio 79’), 20.Christopher Parsons, 29.George Antonis
Unused subs: 1.Montgomery Partington
Yellow cards: (William Mutch 66’, George Antonis 69’, Peter Politis 90+4)
Red cards: Nil
Central Coast Mariners: 1.Jack Warshawsky, 2.Michael Paragalli, 4.Parker Williams, 5.Harry Menham, 6.Jordan Small, 7.Arthur De Lima, 8.Luis Scicluna, 9.Nicholas Duarte, (10.Luka Smyth 58’), 11.Donatien Niyonkuru, 12.Taye Hedley, (17.Jai Rose 81’), 22.Rocco Smith, (33.Agieg Aluk 89’), (37.Adil Toska 81’), (42.Alexander Gountounas 89’)
Unused subs: 20.Jai Ajanovic
Yellow cards: (Michael Paragalli 44’)
Red cards: Nil
Player Ratings:
3: Arthur De Lima (CCM)
2: Jack Warshawsky (CCM)
1: Michael Vakis (SO)
-By Tobias Canning
