Central Coast Mariners recorded a nailbiting 1-0 victory over Newcastle Jets in the first A-League game of the season for both sides.
The home side really needed to prove a point as they had come into this match winning only two of their last 17 meetings against their opponents.
The game began with both teams trying to establish physical dominance as the visitors’ right-back Jason Hoffman had to receive medical attention following a late challenge by Oliver Bozanic. The former Hearts midfielder was lucky to have got away without a caution on that occasion, as Hoffman was unable to continue and made way for Lucas Mauragis. A minute later, there was a bit of friendly fire as Bozanic collided with young forward Alou Kuol as the latter clattered into the ground in a very awkward manner. Lukily for the hosts, the 19-year-old was able to shake it off and continue.
The match seemed to be a stalemate for the most part as the first period of play progressed. But two minutes before the break, Craig Deans’ men switched off defensively as a Stefan Nigro cross from the right ended up with defenders Nikolai Topor-Stanley and Connor O’Toole being caught ball watching. But the Mariners were fully focussed as Kuol showed excellent presence of mind coupled with good determination to quickly rush forward, get to the ball, and head it past helpless goalkeeper Jack Duncan.
Following the ball hitting the back of the net, visibility reduced a bit because of the smoke caused by the familiar cannon fire following a goal in Gosford. But that did not hamper anything as the first half was brought to a halt.
The visitors came back into the second-half looking rejuvenated and ready to atone for their folly, as winger Valentino Yuel darted into the box and quickly cut one to Kosta Petratos who went in sliding and sent the ball towards the net. But the hosts’ shot-stopper Mark Birighitti produced a moment of brilliance as he flung himself across goal to deny his former club an equaliser.
Newcastle continued with their forward momentum as the game began to open up with end-to-end traffic. With just a little over 20 minutes left, midfielder Angus Thurgate sent in a curling effort from outside the box. Yet again Birighitti kept the Mariners in the lead by diving full stretch and pulling off a stunning one handed save, as the ball eventually hit the crossbar and went away for a corner. Given some of the goalkeeping heroics that we have been witnessed in recent games, comparisons are likely to be drawn with the performance put in by Adam Federici for Macarthur FC in their recent victory over Western Sydney Wanderers.
That being said, the Jets desperation continued to mount as the home fans happiness soared. With the wind in their sails and confidence on their side approaching the final whistle, Mariners midfielder Bozanic even tried his luck from close to the halfway line. While initially appearing to be an overly optimistic effort, the shot caught ‘keeper Duncan off his line. Unfortunately the creativity did not pay off on that occasion, as the crossbar proved to be the shot-stopper’s best friend.
As the man in charge called time on the game, the home side walked away with all three points thanks to the first-half defensive error by the Jets.
Newcastle will continue their travels to take on Western Sydney Wanderers in Parramatta on January 8, while Central Coast Mariners travel slightly further south to take on new boys Macarthur FC on January 3.
