Jason Trifiro was given his marching orders 10 minutes after half-time, with McBreen scoring in either half for a 2-0 win by Central Coast that lifts them 4 points clear at the top of the A-League ladder.
Note: Condensed report from FootballAustralia.Com as Fox Sports has no video, or match-centre video available to write it.
The Wanderers fought and scrapped with the experienced Mariners outfit and had every close decision go against them. When reduced to ten men early in the second half, they pushed the A-League leaders to their limit, pressed to the very end and were unlucky not to get a result
.
The match was marred by several contentious decisions and the referee Chris Beath’s obsession with handing out yellow cards to Wanderers players. The Wanderers felt they had two strong shouts for penalties and were denied those and anything else they asked for. The most telling blow to the home team was the two yellow cards to midfielder Jason Trifiro who left his team a man down in the 54th minute. Both challenges were clear yellow cards. The Mariners' robust striker McBreen, who scored both goals, appeared to play with immunity throughout and crashed around at will.
As expected, both teams started strongly, tousling for possession early on in the match with the Wanderers pushing high. Trifiro and Mile Sterjovski had some early chances on goal but were easily dealt with by both goalkeepers. Kwabena Appiah-Kubi, who replaced suspended Youssouf Hersi on the flank, looked dangerous in attack and provided some great runs and opportunities for the red and black.
In the 24th minute, Joey Gibbs was storming towards goal and was taken down in a late tackle by Trent Sainsbury, who was the last line of defence. Amazingly, Sainsbury only received a yellow card from Beath despite Gibbs having only 25m of clear space and the keeper to beat when he was taken down.
Strong midfield work from the Wanderers courtesy of Jerome Polenz and Shinji Ono was unlucky not to go rewarded in the first half, when a few late chances for Gibbs and Mark Bridge went begging.The Mariners were able to make the first impact on the scoreboard in the 41st minute, when Daniel McBreen was able to beat two Wanderer defenders with some fancy footwork, before slotting the ball past Ante Covic at close range.
The Wanderers started the second half with some fierce attack and looked to be the more dominant team early-on. This was evident in the 50th minute when an unbelievable goal line foot block from Pedj Bojic denied a certain goal as he blocked Ono’s bullet shot inches from the line. The Wanderers went a man down in the 54th minute when Trifiro was sent off after receiving his second yellow. This didn’t dampen the Wanderers attack with both Bridge and Polenz threatening the Mariners’ defence with some close chances.
Substitute Labinot Haliti had the desired effect immediately after coming on in the 66th minute, when two of his headers narrowly missed their target, both going over the top of the cross-bar. The physical contest continued in the late stages of the second half with both sides exchanging chances but neither team seemed to be able to make a dominant stand. McBreen was able to put the icing on the cake for the Mariners in the late stages of extra time after a defensive mix-up gave him the opportunity to put a shot from outside the 18 yard box in the back of an empty Wanderers goal.
The Wanderers next match is against the Wellington Phoenix at Westpac Stadium, Wellington on Sunday the 13th of January at 2:30pm Eastern Daylight Savings Time.
The RBB will be attending the Western Sydney vs Sydney FC W-League Derby at Campbelltown Stadium on Saturday the 12th of January at 3:00pm Eastern Daylight Savings Time. We hope many of you can make the effort to the support the team in their final fixture of the W-League season.
Recommended Comments
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now