Newcastle Jets 1 (Trifunovic 83’) Central Coast Mariners 1 (Sim 93’)
The Run Down
After going a man down in the 24th minute the Central Coast Mariners have earned a brave point away in the #F3Derby at Hunter Stadium thanks to Matt Sim’s stoppage time strike!
Nick Montgomery put in one of the best solo performances you will see with a true skipper’s knock that was the driving force behind a resilient Yellow & Navy away from home.
Milos Trifunovic thought he had the last laugh with a header in the 83rd minute but in true Mariners’ style, the Coasties bagged an equaliser in the 93rd minute via Sim who made no mistake with his last ditch effort.
Playing 70 odd minutes with a man down was always going to be a challenge but the Mariners pushed forward with every opportunity they had to pick up a well-deserved point away from home.
Full focus now turns to Thursday night where the Mariners will take on Melbourne Victory at AAMI Park.
Goals
83’ TRIFUNOVIC GOAL: With less than 10 minutes remaining it was the Serbian marksman who launched himself in the air to head home, what he thought was the winner in the dying stages.
93’ SIM GOAL: It was all guns blazing until the final kick for the Central Coast Mariners who never gave up, even with a man down. Off the back of a set piece, Izzo looked to head home, Josh Rose tried his luck but the ball fell to Sim who belted home from just inside the area.
Key Moments
2’ HEFFERNAN HITS: Just two minutes in, Montgomery had a hit from just inside the box that was palmed away by Mark Birighitti, Dan Heffernan was there to scoop up the rebounds but the Jets’ custodian cleared the danger.
14’ TRIFUNOVIC TRIPS: Trifunovic looked to break towards the Mariners’ goal but Izzo stood strong. The Serbian went down for a penalty shout but Kris Griffiths-Jones waved it away and rightfully so.
19’ AUSTIN RUNS: As he does so well, Mitch Austin pushed his way around Jason Hoffman to drive a low and hard cross into the box, Birighitti came off his line to intercept the danger.
22’ FITZGERALD FIRES: After a very close penalty call courtesy of Austin being brought down on the edge of the18-yard-box, Fitzgerald found himself with a chance to volley. The play broke down after a set piece, but Fitzgerald’s volley was just wide of the upright.
24’ McGING RED CARD: The first big tackle of the #F3Derby saw Griffiths-Jones pull a red card. Jake McGing came in hard at Leonardo and was shown a red card.
47’ FITZGERALD HEADER: The away team came out firing in the second half thanks to an O’Donovan cross, Fitzgerald leaped above the pack to head but his effort was just off the mark.
51’ O’DONOVAN SHOOTS: Quick to break on the counter through Anthony Caceres, the number 10 pushed into space and switched to O’Donovan who pushed in behind the Jets’ back four, the Irishman pulled the trigger but his shot was off target.
54’ BIRIGHITTI SAVE: Some great play down the left from Jacob Poscoliero saw a precision ball whipped into the box, it was O’Donovan who hit a superb first time volley but the Jets’ gloveman made a lucky save on the line.
74’ FITZGERALD & O’DONOVAN: Fitzgerald proved the danger man for most of the match, this time he had an opportunity to shoot from just inside the box. Instead of pulling the trigger, Fitzy flicked to O’Donovan who blasted his effort over the bar.
Walmsley’s Words
“The belief in the camp is growing, to go down to 10 men for the 2nd time in three games and even earlier this time is going to test our resilience.”
“We played well with 11 men, we played well with 10 men, so I think a draw at the end of the day is a just reward for the effort they put in.”
“If a player gets injured in a late tackle sometimes the ref’ has no option but McGing has been great for us this season, he’s not a nasty player and he certainly wouldn’t have gone in studs up.”
“We’ve been building towards this match for some time, we’ve got some young players and we’ve started most of our games a little bit slowly and it’s taken us 20/25 minutes to get a rhythm for how capable we can be.”
“We started better today which was a great sign for me and I knew after the Sydney game we’d already seen the character demonstrated by the players and the willingness to roll their sleeves up so it didn’t surprise me.”
“Nick Montgomery, centre midfielder, captain, went to centre back was immense.”
“Jacob Poscoliero, the other centre back was immense and I think those two performances for me are for other players to look up to. If you play for the Central Coast Mariners that is the level of application and dedication that we want.”
Newcastle Jets: 1.Mark BIRIGHITTI (Gk), 3.Jason HOFFMAN, 4.Nigel BOOGAARD (c), 6.Cameron WATSON (24.Nicholas COWBURN, 76’), 7.Enver ALIVODIC, 9.Milos TRIFUNOVIC, 10.LEONARDO (17.Radovan PAVICEVIC 28’), 13.Lee KI-JE, 22.Lachlan JACKSON, 23.David CARNEY.
Unused Subs: 8.Mateo POLJAK, 20.Ben KENNEDY (Gk), 25.Brandon LUNDY, 29.Andrew PAWIAK
Yellow Cards: Watson 37’, Hoffman 54’, Pavicevic 75’
Central Coast Mariners: 1.Paul IZZO (GK), 2.Storm ROUX, 3.Josh ROSE, 4.Jacob POSCOLIERO, 6.Mitch AUSTIN (15.Matthew SIM 79’), 8.Nick MONTGOMERY (c), 9.Roy O’DONOVAN, 10.Anthony CACERES, 11.Nick FITZGERALD, 14.Daniel HEFFERNAN (19.Josh BINGHAM 45’), 22.Jake McGING
Unused Subs: 30.Adam PEARCE (GK), 16.Liam ROSE, 20.Anthony KALIK
Yellow Cards: Caceres 33’
Red cards: Jake McGing 24’
Saturday 14 November 2015
Newcastle Jets 1
Central Coast Mariners 1
Venue: Hunter Stadium, Newcastle
Attendance: 9,422
Referee: Kris Griffiths-Jones
