Central Coast Mariners 4-1 Canberra United
by Ryan Miller-Woods (17/3/24)
Above: Celebration time for Central Coast Mariners today. Photo: Central Coast Mariners.
Central Coast Mariners officially confirmed their spot in the Finals thanks to a 4-1 win against Canberra United with Emily Husband’s side clinching their fourth straight win in the process.
The home side were on the front foot from the start, taking just four minutes to go ahead. Bianca Galic won possession from the Canberra defence to provide a through ball into the box for Wurigumula whose initial shot was saved by Coco Majstorovic but the ball ricocheted into Wurigumula’s path to put the ball into the back of for her eighth goal of the season.
Two minutes later, the Mariners doubled their lead thanks to a great pass by Isabel Gomez that found Kyah Simon outside the box who then flicked the ball into the path of Rola Badawiya who ended her run into the box by slotting the ball into the bottom left corner.
The Mariners controlled the flow of the game for the first 20 minutes, but as time wore on, Canberra gradually grew into the encounter. Just before the half-hour mark, Deven Jackson provided a great through ball for Michelle Heyman who then timed her run and crossed the ball into the box for Vesna Milivojevic who saw her effort saved by Central Coast goalkeeper Casey Dumont.
Three minutes later, Central Coast were awarded a penalty as Simon’s shot came off the hand of Sarah Clark. Simon from the spot successfully converted. The hosts grabbed another in quick succession when Jazmin Wardlow’s cross found Badawiya who controlled the ball before placing it past Majstorovic for 4-0.
Early into the second half, Canberra almost had a great opportunity to have got a goal back as Jackson laid off a very good through ball that had Ruby Nathan one-on-one with Dumont who was well out of her goal but Nathan was on an angle which wasn’t prevented her from having a clear cut shot on goal.
In the 64th minute, Nathan was involved again by providing a crucial pass for Jackson in the box which forced an important save out of Dumont. Despite the scoreline, Canberra had a much more productive second half as they created more chances.
With 20 minutes remaining, Nathan’s influence on proceedings grew further as she was found in the box by Milivojevic and hit a first-time volley that forced a brilliant save from Dumont.
Three minutes from the end of normal time, Canberra finally got some reward for their efforts. Jackson’s initial effort and then Nathan’s shot were both saved by Dumont but the goalkeeper wasn’t able to deny Nicki Flannery in the box who headed home her fifth goal of the season.
Teams: CENTRAL COAST MARINERS (3-4-3): Dumont, Wardlow, Irwin, Hayward, Gomez, Galic, Bryson, Simon, Wurigumula, Badawiya. Substitutes: Langman, Rasmussen, Karrys-Stahl, Karambasis, Evans.
Scorers: Wurigumula 4’, Badawiya 6’, 35’. Simon (pen) 33’.
CANBERRA UNITED (4-1-3-2): Majstorovic, Christopherson, Ilijoski, Clough, Whittall, Clark, Flannery, Milivojevic, Jackson, Nathan, Heyman. Substitutes: Ritchie, McKenzie, Murray, Piazza, McNulty.
Scorer: Flannery 87’.
Referee: Caitlin Williams.
Attendance: TBC.
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