By Jonathon Hagger 3/3/24
Above: Central Coast Mariners goalkeeper, Sarah Langman. (Source: @CCMariners on Twitter)
The Central Coast Mariners and Adelaide United faced off in the ‘Pink Round’, as chosen by the Mariners club, to show support for the Glenn McGrath Foundations breast cancer awareness campaign.There were no issues for spectators knowing which team was which as the pink kit was razor sharp.
Given the starting temperature of 30 degrees for the match, the opening minutes were played at a mostly pedestrian pace. Both teams got testy with each other in the opening minutes with some heavy defensive challenges being put in by each side. Mariners midfielder Galic made a tough block that earned her a yellow card which was soon followed by team mate Badawiya putting in a rough challenge that the referee decided was worthy of a warning but not a card.
Continuous possession of the ball gave the Mariners both the momentum and a good location to launch their offensive attack. The 13th minute saw the first real opportunity become available as the Mariners set up camp in the Adelaide goal area but an errant offside saw a fantastic goal opposite waved off.
At the halfway point of the first half there were definite trends showing through –
- The Mariners dominated in possession and location,
- Adelaide’s quality of passing was well below their usual standard,
- The Mariners shape and structure closed down any offensive chances that Adelaide tried to conjure up,
- Adelaide made very few breaks through the Mariners midfield and when they were in the open the midfield and forwards were unable to connect.
Fast forward to the 31st minute and Adelaide launched their first real goal scoring attempt. Following a loss of possession by the Mariners in their midfield, Isabel Hodgson cleanly put the ball at the feet of a wide open Dylan Holmes. Holmes shot the ball off her right foot at the top of the Mariners goal area that was clearly on target however Adelaide’s keeper, Langman was able to punch the ball away resulting in a corner. Langman was called upon again, employing her shot stopping skills, collecting an on target ball off the head of Waldus from the corner kick. Adelaide had finally got themselves into the match. Game on!
Following periods of to and fro from each team, the Mariners capitalised on poor possession by Adelaide with Izzy Gomez intercepting a wayward ball. A shimmy, a shake and a lay off pass right in front of Adelaide’s goal was squandered as Hayward sprayed the ball wide to the left. What should have been the opening goal came to naught. The first half ended 0-0 which Adelaide were very lucky to get away with.
The Mariners showed their intent for the second half straight after the half time break with Izzy Gomez stealing the ball and creating an opportunity to score. Kyah Simon was unaware the ball was coming her way and was unable to put away the opportunity given her.
The opening goal of the match came in the 50th after Adelaide’s Mullan gave away a free kick in a dangerous position. Simon and Gomez’s first attempt as scoring was undone through some marvellous blocking by Adelaide however the Mariners Karambasis benefitted from poor clearing of the area. An easy toe poke into the net and the Mariners went up 1-0.
It wasn’t until the 60th minute until the match came alive again, following a superb pass by Gomez to Simon who was cut down by the Adelaide defender Tolland. The warning bells were ringing in the Adelaide camp as the Mariners launched repeated attacks on goal. A long ball down the left flank by Hayward found Badawiya in the open but the cut back pass to two open Mariners attackers right in front of goal, rolled harmlessly out of play,
Once again Adelaide was let down by their own sloppy defensive work as the Mariners corner kick not being cleared, resulting in a goal as Wurigumala sent the ball straight into the back of the net in the 64th minute. Mariners 2-0.
A return to a stock standard 4-4-2 formation ensued as the Mariners were happy to defend their lead. But Adelaide weren’t going to give up. Isabel Hodgson went for a fantastic run that challenged the Mariners defensive setup however Irwin and Langman were able to diffuse the pressure.
Try as they might, Adelaide were unable to break through the staunch Mariners formation. A quality attempt on goal in the 79th minute saw a torpedo shot by Hodgson punched away by Langman. What was Adelaide’s best scoring opportunity just didn’t have enough heat in it to beat the keeper.
The remainder of the match saw the Mariners team soaking up the pressure being applied by Adelaide. In a continuation of the flow of energy in the match, Adelaide were unable to create any real chances to score.
A big congratulations to the following Adelaide players –
- Annalee Grove on making 50 appearances in the A-League,
- Emily Condon on achieving 100 appearances in the A-League.
And well done to –
- Izzy Gomez who once again showed the league what a quality #6 looks like, and
- Shae Evans whose performance, in the final 10 minutes, really kept the Adelaide keeper on her toes!
Central Coast Mariners: 4-2-3-1. Langman, Bryson, Karambasis, Irwin, Wardlow, Gomez, Galic, Badawiya, Wurigumula, Hayward, Simon.
Subs: Dumont, Karrys-Stahl (81’), Quilligan, Rasmussen (68’), Evans (68’).
Scorers: Karambasis (50’), Wurigumala (64’)
Adelaide United: 4-3-3. Grove, Tolland, Tonkin, Waldus, Hodgson, Sasaki, Holmes, Morgan, Blake, Hodgson, Mullan.m
Subs: Jenkins, Condon (77’), Holtz (70’), Bowler (70’), Grigg (62’).
Referee: Georgia Ghirardello.
Attendance: 1,573.
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