10-man Mariners’ side secured a vital 1-0 win against Melbourne Victory in Gosford, to move off the bottom of the Isuzu Ute A-League ladder.
Played with a stiff breeze, Melbourne Victory had the better chances early with Andrew Redmayne being called into action on multiple occasions in the first 15 minutes.
The home side started working their way into the match and it was Ali Auglah who scored the goal in the 34th minute. A loose ball from the Victory defence was intercepted by Donnell who headed the ball to Miguel Di Pizio. Ali Auglah received the ball from Di Pizio and ran straight at the Victory defence, working the ball onto his left foot. From the top corner of the penalty box, Auglah scored with a curling shot that beat the Victory goalkeeper.
Six minutes later, the match was suspended due to lightning with play resuming approximately an hour later.
In the few minutes after play resumed, the Mariners had two chances to score but unfortunately the shots went over the Victory crossbar.
With the score at 1-0 to the Mariners going into the second half, Victory kept the pressure on to the Mariners with Redmayne continuing to make crucial saves.
In the 55th minute, the Mariners were reduced to 10 men with Nathan Paull ruled to have made contact with Victory’s Vergos. As Paull was the last defender, the referee gave him a straight red card.
Victory continued to apply pressure with repeated corners and attacks on the Mariners goal to no avail.
The Mariners’ Men next play away on Saturday, 7th February against Brisbane Roar at Kayo Stadium in Redcliffe with kick-off scheduled for 5:00pm (AEDT).
The Mariners Women travelled to Brisbane and came away with a share in the points with 2-2 draw.
The Mariners had two changes to the starting line-up with Elizabeth Barwick-Grey replacing Baxter Thew, and Tamar Levin earning her first start for the season in place of Jynaya dos Santos.
Levin had an early chance to score against her old club but was denied by the Roar goalkeeper.
Brisbane was to take the lead shortly after in the 8th minute with a well worked attack up the middle of the park, resulting in Brisbane's Miller converting the opportunity.
The score would not stay that way for long with Annalise Rasmussen earning and converting a penalty.
The score would remain at 1-1 going into half-time.
Brisbane continued to pressure the Mariners and would go ahead for the second time in the match in the 74th minute. A misplaced pass by the Mariners found Brisbane's Daisy Brown who lobbed the ball over Mariners' keeper Grove from about 30 metres out.
The score would change again three minutes later with goal scorer again being Rasmussen, taking her season tally to 11 goals. A great through ball by Lorena Baumann found Rasmussen with only the keeper to beat. With two Brisbane defenders closing in on her fast, Rasmussen calmly converted the opportunity to take the score to 2-2.
The Mariners Women have a bye next weekend, making their next match to be against Wellington Phoenix in New Zealand on 15th February with kick-off scheduled for 2:00pm (AEDT).
Today the Australian Professional Leagues (APL) has taken over interim management of the Central Coast Mariners FC while a new owner is found.
This action was taken by the APL as the operator of the Mariners notified the APL of the forfeiture of the Club Participation Agreement (CPA). In turn, the APL has taken steps to terminate the CPA with that operator.
With this news hitting the socials and other online resources, the CCM Official Supporters Club (CCMOSC) Committee is asking that fans stay strong and calm.
Other clubs have been through this - Perth & Newcastle being the most recent - and they are still around!
There are many rumours around that may or may not be true but what we need to do is to show that our Club is important to us on the Coast!
The players & staff who have been working week in/week out during this season need our support more than ever and CCM has assured us that the APL are here to support the Club and fully committed to the next steps to secure a sale.
It is worth mentioning that a representative of the CCMOSC Committee has been in contact with CCM Management. In addition, key representatives of CCMOSC membership have received an email from the APL. The common denominator in these communications is the commitment for the APL to “support the club” and that they are “fully committed to the next steps of securing a sale”.
Therefore, the CCMOSC Committee would like to urge all fans to show your support for our wonderful football club by being at the games on the weekend.
CCMOSC will provide further updates as they become available.
A full copy of the announcement by the APL can be found on the CCM website at
https://ccmariners.com.au/news/a-leagues-update-central-coast-mariners-fc/
