CENTRAL Coast Mariners National Youth League Head Coach John McLafferty said he was pleased with the effort shown from his side in Sunday’s junior F3 Derby but believes his side has plenty of improvements to make this season.
Attacking midfielder Daniel Bragg (above) proved pivotal in the match. Picture by John Dewberry
CENTRAL Coast Mariners National Youth League Head Coach John McLafferty said he was pleased with the effort shown by his side in Sunday-s junior F3 Derby but believes his team has plenty of improvements to make this season.
The Round 1 match ended 2-1 in favour of the yellow and navy. First half goals by Tomislav Cirjak and Adam Kwasnik ensured the Mariners a home victory in front of a healthy crowd.
“Any win is a good win,” McLafferty said after the game. “I think there is a long way to go but there is a lot of good ball players out there and we-re happy with the way we went forward, but defensively we still have some room for improvement.”
McLafferty spoke of the players that most impressed him in Central Coast-s opening match of the campaign.
“Looking at the young boys, we got a lot of good play from ‘Braggy- (Daniel Bragg) and Tommy (Cirjak) who was good before we substituted him,” he said.
“I think the key point was the goalkeeper (Justin Pasfield). Obviously he saved the penalty and then his second save was excellent.”
Sunday-s match was a memorable occasion for Central Coast local Louis Bozanic who took to the field in the second stanza. Louis older brother, established Hyundai A-League star Oliver, was already on the pitch for the yellow and navy, and the duo teamed up for the final 30 minutes.
“It was good. It-s always been a dream of ours. It was good to finally get it done,” Louis Bozanic said after the game.
And Louis said he was happy with his teammates- effort in the clash with the Jets.
“It was a good result,” he said. “The boys played really well today, it was a good start to the season.”
“We knocked the ball around well especially in the first half. We started well and got two early goals. We tired a bit in the back end of the game, but that-s normal for the first game of the season. Overall it was pretty good, a solid start,” he added.
Mariners Youth face Melbourne Heart Youth on Saturday 27 October at John Cain Memorial Park in Thornbury, Victoria.
