Macarthur FC fell to a 2-0 defeat in their first ever home game in the A-League, as Daniel De Silva and Jordan Smylie got their names on the score sheet.
The match was inaugurated by Uncle Ivan Wellington – a prominent member of the local community – who presided over a traditional smoke ceremony prior to kick off. Things such as this including the fact that there were many children at the game bodes well for the club and the local community going forward.
On a humid afternoon in Campbelltown, it was a cagey start as both sides probed each other for a chink in the armour of the the defences. Despite a bit of a drizzle early on, the weather held firm.
For the most part of the first-half, neither goalkeeper Adam Federici nor his opposite number Mark Birighitti was troubled as defences were on top. But the visitors were the ones who showed better initiative to try and get behind the defence. On one such occasion just a little after 30 minutes had gone, striker Matthew Simon found himself in with a bit of space in the box. But the shot he took with his first touch was poor as it wide of the target.
Over at the other end, the Bulls’ forward Matt Derbyshire was booked for simulation as went down in the box. While the former Blackburn Rovers and Olympiacos hitman got up and let referee Daniel Elder know that it was not a penalty, the man in charge did well to hand out the yellow card as the 34-year-old should not have gone down so easily in the first place.
Alen Stajcic’s men opened the scoring in the 35th minute as young midfielder Josh Nisbet did well to go down the right and cut one back into the centre of the box with his left foot. Following a failed interception by the hosts’ captain Mark Milligan, De Silva darted forward to put himself in the perfect position to unleash a quick shot into the back of the net.
Following the half-time break, the bells – an innovative touch for the baby club – rang a bit louder for the Bulls as they controlled possession and made headway into the opposing third. Benat Etxebarria – who has come on in place of Markel Susaeta – and Derbyshire were both on target but did not cause any real trouble for shot-stopper Birighitti.
The former Newcastle Jets ‘keeper was, however, put in an awkward position after 74 minutes, when a well hit shot from the Bulls defender Ivan Franjic took a deflection caught him wrong footed. But the shot-stopper recovered very well to make an excellent save to deny an equaliser.
As Macarthur put more bodies forward towards the end of the game, Daniel Bouman did very well to keep himself onside and get past the hosts’ defence, sliding one from the right to an unmarked Smylie for the simplest of finishes as the forward tapped the ball into an open goal.
As the man in charge called time on the encounter, the Mariners secured all three points to beat the Bulls in their first ever home game in the A-League.
Macarthur will continue to look for their first league victory at home as they play host to Wellington Phoenix on January 9, while Central Coast Mariners have more than a fortnight to prepare for the game against Western Sydney Wanderers in Gosford on January 19.
