This evening the Central Mariners' Mens team travelled to Newcastle for the latest edition of the F3 Derby, coming away with a 1-nil win.
The win temporarily puts the Mariners on top of the Isuzu Men's A-League ladder, pending the result of tomorrow's Wellington vs Adelaide fixture.
The win also means that the Men remain holders of the F3 Derby Trophy after having defeated the Jets in the match played earlier in the season.
Tonight's match started in a similar fashion to so many previous F3 Derby matches. Both sides were testing each other out and neither had any real chances until late in the first half.
The best chance came the mariners way in the 40th minute when Max Balard had his close range shot blocked by Newcastle's goalkeeper Ryan Scott's leg. The ball bobbed up and Scott was able to deflect the ball over the goalline for a corner.
Score was 0-0 at half-time.
The second half started off with both teams increasing the intensity. Josh Nisbet had a few chances in the second half with Mikael Doka also having a couple.
Newcastle put pressure on the Mariner's backline which held firm. Danny Vukovic defused a couple of well taken corners, one with a big punch to clear the ball.
Mariner's forward Jing Reec placed a nicely timed header into the Newcastle goal in the 59th minute from a precise cross from Storm Roux. Unfortunately Roux was judged to have been offside when he received the ball.
The deadlock was finally broken in the 75th minute by a well taken goal from Mariner Josh Nisbet. Mikael Doka played provider with a cross to Nisbel who seemed to lose sight of the ball. Nisbet turned, found the ball and struck it first time with his left foot. Newcastle's goalkeeper got his left-hand to the ball but it had been struck well by Nisbet, giving Josh his first goal of the season.
The Mariners Men's next game in the Isuzu Ute A-League competition is scheduled for Sunday, 10th March against Macarthur Bulls in Campbelltown. Kick-off is scheduled for 5:00pm.
The team does have a mid-week match before that game, being the first leg of the AFC Cup Inter-Zonal Semi-Final against Odisha FC from India. This game is being played at Industree Group Stadium in Gosford on Thursday, 7th March with kick-off at 7:00pm.