Brisbane Roar 0–2 Central Coast Mariners (09/03/24)
By Ben Carey
Above: Kyah Simon celebrates with her teammates after scoring the second goal of the match. Photo: Central Coast Mariners.
A large crowd packed into Ballymore Stadium on Saturday evening to watch Brisbane Roar take on Central Coast Mariners. Much to the dismay of local supporters, a large and vocal crowd was not enough to prevent a painful loss to the visitors.
It was an energetic start to the match from both sides. The majority of the first half was characterised by Mariners dominating possession but the Roar creating much better chances. It could have easily been 2-0 to Brisbane in the first half hour, but each chance either just missed or was snuffed out by the Mariners backline or by Casey Dumont in goals.
Just before stoppage time in the first half began, Annabel Martincaught the Brisbane defence sleeping and crossed a great ball into the box that Chinese international, Wurigumula, was able to flick past Roar keeper, Jordan Silkowitz.
The Roar went into half time having been the better side, having created a wealth of chances, but with nothing to show for it. Worse still, they were down a goal.
In the very first minute of the second half, things went from bad to worse for Brisbane Roar. A sloppy turnover in the midfield forced a great save from Silkowitz and then a resulting corner. The corner itself didn’t cause many issues, but the Roar’s inability to clear the ball did, and Kyah Simon score a fine poacher’s goal to send the Mariners ahead 2-0. It was the second goal of the season for the former Matildas star, who has only just come back from over a year out due to injury.
After the second goal was conceded the Roar looked completely deflated. Their movements were sluggish, they were making more mistakes, and not on the same page with many plays. They tried to mount a few more attacks, but the Mariners shut them all down with relative ease.
With the win, the Central Coast Mariners solidify their place in the top six and will now almost certainly qualify for the end of season finals series. With three games left to play, Brisbane can still technically make the finals series, but they will have to win all of their remaining matches to give themselves a fighting chance.
Brisbane Roar will play Adelaide United away from home next Saturday. Meanwhile, Central Coast Mariners will host Canberra United the following day.
Teams: BRISBANE ROAR (3-4-3): Silkowitz, Scarpelli, McCormick, De La Harpe, McQueen, Freier, Norrie, Stephenson, Yallop, Woods, Corbin. Substitutes: Richards,Palmer, Hecher, Kirkup, Brodigan.
CENTRAL COAST MARINERS (4-2-3-1): Dumont, Bryson, Irwin, Wardlow, Martin, Gomez, Galic, Badawiya, Simon, Hayward, Wurigumula. Substitutes: Langman, Evans, Karambasis, Karrys-Stahl, Quiligan.
Scorers: Wurigumula 45’, Simon 46’.
Referee: Casey Lisa Reibelt
Attendance: TBC
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