The Central Coast Mariners’ National Youth League (NYL) side today recorded its most memorable result to date – a spirited come from behind 2-1 triumph over the Perth Glory at Members Equity Stadium.
The Central Coast Mariners- National Youth League (NYL) side today recorded its most memorable result to date – a spirited come from behind 2-1 triumph over the Perth Glory at Members Equity Stadium.
Stunning second half strikes from Darko Vidovic and Glen Trifiro – the first that each have scored in the NYL, overturned Reece Vittiglia-s effort earlier in the half to secure the Mariners their second win of the campaign and their first away from home.
The Mariners- success in the west built upon last Saturday-s 1-1 draw away to the Melbourne Victory and marked the return to fitness of Hyundai A-League stars Andrew Clark and Dean Heffernan.
While Clark and Heffernan completed ninety and sixty minutes respectively, the most impressive aspect of this yellow and navy performance was the overall character shown by the visitors, having stepped off the cross-country flight from Sydney only hours before kick off.
Indeed, the Mariners starting side was perhaps their strongest of the NYL season, with Clark and Heffernan joined by fellow Hyundai A-League players Paul O-Grady and Greg Owens in addition to young Central Coast starlets David D-Apuzzo and Andrew Redmayne.
In his first competitive appearance since the 2008 Pre-Season Cup opener in Wellington, Heffernan was influential for the Mariners in an unfamiliar role up front and was arguably the standout performer of the opening stanza along with goalkeeper Redmayne, who made a series of telling stops.
Following Heffernan-s withdrawal, Vidovic and Trifiro stole the show and the points for the visitors with a pair of unforgettable strikes.
Vidovic volleyed his first goal in the NYL from considerable distance past helpless Glory custodian Dejan Aleksic on 70 minutes, before Trifiro stunned the home side with a long-range free kick four minutes from full time.
“We asked the boys for a response following our heavy defeat at home a fortnight ago and last week, coupled with today-s effort, has been the exact type of response that we were after,” said Mariners NYL Head Coach Alex Tobin after the match.
“The Perth away trip is without question the toughest in the NYL and to have produced one of our better performances of the season on the back of such a long flight is credit to the character of the playing group.”
The Mariners- National Youth League season returns to the Central Coast on Sunday, 7 December, when the Mariners host the Queensland Roar at Lisarow-s Pluim Park. Kick off is at 4pm and entry to this match is free.
Match Details
Central Coast Mariners 30. Andrew Redmayne (gk), 2. Stephen Tibbetts, 5. Nathan Sherlock, 6. David D-Apuzzo, 7. Andrew Clark, 8. Dean Heffernan (11. Darko Vidovic 61-), 9. Brady Smith, 10. Glen Trifiro, 13. Laurence Braude, 14. Greg Owens (12. Scott Wright 61-), 15. Paul O-Grady ( 17. Sean Mitchell 54-)
Yellow Cards D-Apuzzo 49-, Clark 64-, Wright 88-
Red Cards None
Goals Vidovic 70-, Trifiro 86-
Perth Glory 20. Jason Petkovic (gk) (1. Dejan Aleksic (gk) 46-), 2. Ryan Pearson, 3. Scott Neville, 5. Hayden Doyle, 6. Steven Hesketh, 10. Adam Luca (7. James Sammut 46-), 11. Ludovic Boi, 12. Reece Vittiglia, 13. Andrija Jukic, 18. David Tarka (4. Trent Sainsbury 56-), 19. Eli Babalj (9. Scott Bulloch 46-)
Yellow Cards Sammut 85-
Red Cards None
Goals Vittiglia 58-
Referee David Costello
