The U16 sides from the Central Coast Mariners Academy and Parramatta FC played out a spirited nil-all draw in their Round 4 clash at Pluim Park on Saturday afternoon.
The U16 sides from the Central Coast Mariners Academy and Parramatta FC played out a spirited nil-all draw in their Round 4 clash at Pluim Park on Saturday afternoon.
Neither team could take advantage of an extremely open and attacking match, with the deadlock remaining unchanged for the entirety of the 70 minutes.
Early play was free flowing between the two sides, with both teams playing end-to-end football aiming to exploit the pace of their wingers in order to establish an early lead.
Parramatta settled the better of the two sides, and only a great challenge by CCMA defender Christopher Ball in the box denied Parramatta a goal 25 minutes in.
Mariners Academy were finding it difficult to convert their attacking raids into chances, and they were almost made to pay on the half hour mark when a diving Riley Battle athletically and brilliantly parried a low shot from a Parramatta FC strike.
Before the break CCMA went down the other end for their first meaningful chance of the match, only to see Fergus Worralls’ shot deflected wide for a corner by a lunging Parramatta defender.
The half time interval proved to be a momentum swinger for the home side, as a rejuvenated yellow and navy outfit took to the park in the second half and almost capitalised early via two well-constructed chances. The best moment saw a Christopher Lenin-Parker strike fired on goal, however his effort was punched over the bar in a stellar display of glove work by the visiting keeper.
The young Mariners continued to dominate proceedings in the second stanza, and a free kick from the right side found substitute Ricky Young. Young-s header, however, sprayed high and wide of the target.
The sides fought out the remaining 20 minutes looking for the win, but the teams were left to settle for a point apiece. The draw leaves Central Coast Mariners Academy in fifth place after four rounds of play in the 2014 Supa IGA National Premier League Men-s 2 16-s division.
