2 weeks Ago By Joanna Guelas
Central Coast have finally broken through for their first win of the A-League Men season, defeating local rivals Newcastle 2-1 in Unite Round. An own goal in the 74th minute was the Jets undoing, with Lucas Mauragis's cross towards grand final hero Ryan Edmonson deflecting off opponent Aleksandar Susnjar. Friday night's win at Allianz Stadium was a much-cherished result for an injury-ravaged Mariners side, who had opened their title defence with three draws and a loss.
They have also now won six-straight F3 derbies. Already without captain Trent Sainsbury (chest), Miguel Di Pizio (knee) and Bradley Tapp (knee), the Mariners lost young attacker Nicholas Duarte earlier in the week. Duarte will be sidelined until the new year with a broken ankle after his studs caught the turf in a training accident.
Stand-in captain Brian Kaltak was the hero, the Vanuatuan returning to Australia after facing off against his New Zealander Mariners teammate Storm Roux in World Cup qualifiers in the international break. Newcastle had drawn first blood after a horror error by teenaged Mariners goalkeeper Dylan Peraic-Cullen, but a dogged Kaltak found the equaliser. Former Mariner academy product Lachlan Bayliss was at the source of the Jets' only goal, cleverly opening up the play with a superb pass to substitute Ben Gibson.
Gibson's shot was stopped by Peraic-Cullen, but the rebound landed for Thomas Aquilina, who slotted easily in the 64th minute for his career-first goal. But the Jets' ascendancy did not last long, with Kaltak peeling one back less than two minutes later with a fantastic header. Central Coast looked set to grab their first three points after creating chance after chance in the opening half despite Newcastle's dominance in possession.
Jets goalkeeper Ryan Scott worked overtime, first denying Harrison Steele in the 12th minute before fending off Mauragis twice a minute later. Alou Kuol was beside himself after missing a golden opportunity to open the scoring for Central Coast in the 25th minute. Alfie McCalmont pulled off a superb pass that sliced through the middle to Kuol, luring Scott off his line, but Kuol sent the ball high.
Left smarting, Kuol almost toe-poked it home in the 45th minute when Jets defender Phillip Cancar dared to clear the ball by running across the face of goal. He sent it just wide, much to Cancar's relief..
