Central Coast Mariners 1-1 Melbourne Victory
By Ryan Miller-Woods 10/2/24
Above: Emily Gielnik. Photo Melbourne Victory.
Central Coast Mariners and Melbourne Victory shared the points with a 1-1 draw at Industree Group Stadium, In an enthralling match with 39 shots between the two sides.
Central Coast opened the scoring in the sixth minute as Tess Quilligan found Annabel Martin in the box. Her floated cross found Peta Trimis who beat Victory’s Jamilla Rankin to the ball and put it past Courtney Newbon for Trimis’ second goal of the season. A great start and passage of play by the Mariners.
They came close to doubling their lead six minutes later from a short free kick. Isabel Gomez passed the ball to Faye Bryson, and while the initial shot was blocked, Bianca Galic was able to fire wide from the rebound.
Central Coast controlled proceedings within the first 23 minutes. Victory had created some close chances, but the Mariners looked the more dangerous in the final third. This was especially the case when Quilligan almost doubled her team’s lead but her shot from the outside the box just came off the crossbar.
The Mariners’ relentlessness in attack continued as Galic’s cross found Wurigumula whose header just went wide. Central Coast really could have been two or three goals up from the chances they had created.
As the first half concluded, Central Coast most definitely created opportunities in the final third with 11 shots in total but only two on target which kept Melbourne in the match.They remained in control for the majority of the half. They enjoyed more of the possession when the first 45 minutes concluded with 53% to 47%.
Eight minutes into the second half, Victory had probably their best chance of the match up until that point as Emily Gielnik made a great run towards goal on an angle and forced a save from Central Coast’s Casey Dumont. This was also, Melbourne’s first shot on target for the match.
In the 66th minute, Central Coast’s lack of conversion came back to haunt them as Gielnik made a great run with the ball, and from outside the box powered her shot into the top right corner. Dumont really couldn’t have done anything to stop that.
Nine minutes later, Victory came very close to taking the lead via a great cross by Jamilla Rankin that was floated towards Lia Privtelli. The eventual chip shot at goal forced a crucial save by Dumont.
In the 78th minute, Rola Badawiya’s shot went just wide following a fast break. In a half that felt like Victory was the more likely to take the lead, this was a very promising passage of play by Central Coast.
Five minutes later, Kyah Simon had a shot from more than 35 yards out which kept Victory’s Newbon alert but fortunately for her, Simon’s shot was a little too high of the goal.
In the 93rd minute, Victory had two opportunities to break Central Coast hearts first with McKenzie Weinert but her shot was blocked by a great save from Dumont and then not long after Kurea Okino had a chance but once again Dumont denied Melbourne and came to the rescue.
Teams:
Central Coast Mariners (3-4-2-1): Dumont, Martin, Irwin, Karambasis, Hayward, Quilligan, Gomez, Bryson, Trimis, Galic, Wurigumula. Substitutes: Langman, Badawiya, Rasmussen, Wardlow, Simon.
Scorers: Trimis 6’.
Melbourne Victory (4-3-3): Newbon, Rankin, Morrison, Hansen, Checker, Chidiac, Kellond-Knight, Lowe, D’Appolonia, Gielnik, Weinert. Substitutes: Candy, Nash, Murphy, Okino, Privitelli.
Scorers: Gielnik 66’.
Referee: Caitlin Williams.
Attendance: TBC.
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