Sydney stuns Central Coast

Updated December 28, 2012 10:48:30

A resurgent Sydney FC stunned A-League leader Central Coast 1-0 with Brett Emerton sealing the victory with a late winner on Thursday.

Emerton's 89th minute winner secured the three points to lift the Sky Blues off the bottom of the ladder into ninth place.

The Mariners' frustration spilled over in injury time with John Hutchinson and Tom Rogic both receiving red cards.

Graham Arnold expressed his disappointment at the two players' behaviour and rued the way it could hurt his side in upcoming games.

"I was disappointed with ill-discipline at the end," Arnold said.

"We've talked many times before about stupid yellow cards and we're going to be hurting now for the next game because McBreen is out and now Tommy as well as Hutchinson. In a busy period it tests your depth for sure."

The Sky Blues looked miles apart from the side who got thumped 7-2 by the Mariners in their last encounter in what was an end-to-end clash at Sydney Football Stadium.

Sydney showed a sense of urgency from the get-go with Yairo Yau creating a chance for stand-in skipper Emerton a minute in.

But the Mariners attack soon began to create headaches for Sydney, easily getting past the Sky Blues defence with both the league's leading goal scorer Daniel McBreen and Joshua Rose forcing saves from gloveman Vedran Janjetovic.

Alessandro Del Piero showed his impressive skills to win the ball and go on a defence-busting run with Socceroo tyro keeper Matt Ryan saving his ensuing shot.

The Juventus legend looked like putting the hosts in front just before the break, causing a goal mouth scramble with a curling shot with Trent Sainsbury doing well to clear the ball off the line.

The Sky Blues continued peppering the Mariners goal with shots in the second half with both Adam Griffiths and Blake Powell getting the 16,887-strong crowd on their feet with dangerous strikes.

The match was briefly interrupted in the 63rd minute when a streaker took to the field.

McBreen had a golden opportunity to break the deadlock in the 74th minute when he found himself one-on-one with the the 'keeper but Janjetovic saved the strike from point-blank range.

Tomas Rogic could have stolen a win in the dying minutes when late substitute Mitchell Duke supplied him with a perfect cross into the box but the Mariners playmaker sent his shot over the crossbar.

Sydney's Rhyan Grant replied with a shot of his own a moment later but was denied by the woodwork.

Sydney's Ali Abbas then played a perfect ball to Emerton with the Socceroo heading home the winner.

Frustration boiled over for the Mariners side with Hutchinson being sent off in extra time after earning his second yellow card.

An on-field scuffle broke out between several players and things got worse for the Mariners with Rogic getting a straight red card for a tackle on Grant to end the match with nine players.

AAP

Tags: sport, soccer, a-league, sydney-2000

First posted December 27, 2012 22:07:53

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Leaders Central Coast held by rivals

Updated January 14, 2012 22:42:55

Newcastle held runaway A-League leaders Central Coast to a 1-1 draw in a thrilling F3 derby at Gosford on Saturday.

Labinot Haliti put the visitors in front early in the match with the Mariners equalising in the second half through a Patrick Zwaanswijk header.

The Mariners extended their unbeaten run to 13 straight matches, with the draw leaving the club nine points clear of closest rivals Brisbane and Melbourne Heart.

The ninth-placed Jets picked up a valuable point to leave the visitors just a point outside the top six but coach Gary van Egmond admitted he was disappointed not to pick up a win after taking a lead.

"It feels a little bit like a loss because of the way the game panned out and we're pretty disappointed that we conceded off a set piece," van Egmond said.

"You come up against the team that's winning the comp and you play well, as I think we did the majority of the game, and you only get a point so it's a bit frustrating."

Newcastle looked strong in the opening half, creating chances early with Marko Jesic forcing Mariners' keeper Matthew Ryan into action with a shot just 10 minutes in.

It did not take long for the Jets to break the deadlock when a perfectly placed Jeremy Brockie cross found Haliti in the box who slotted home in the 17th minute for his third goal of the season.

The crowd of 10,904 erupted in the 23rd minute when lineswoman Allyson Flynn spotted what appeared to be a handball by the Jets' Nikolai Topor-Stanley in the box.

Despite replays showing a penalty should not have been given, referee Matt Gillett pointed to the spot.

Troy Hearfield stepped up to the mark but could not get it past Jets glovesman Ben Kennedy who made a flying stop.

Van Egmond admitted he would have been more upset had Kennedy not pulled off the fine save.

"I don't know where that came from but the penalty karma gods were with us so it was all good in the end," van Egmond said.

The host kept searching for the equaliser late in the half and had a chance when Olyroos skipper Oliver Bozanic played a superb ball right across the face of goal, but no one got on the end of it.

The visitor came back from the break looking to widen the gap and Brockie and Taylor Regan continued to cause problems for the usually impenetrable Mariners defence.

Central Coast coach Graham Arnold was on the attack in the second half changing his formation to a more aggressive 4-3-3 and it did not take long before the move paid off.

Hearfield played a cross to the waiting Bernie Ibini in the box, but the teen was just not quick enough to get to it before the Jets defence.

Only a minute later the Mariners levelled the score when Dutch import Zwaanswijk got on the end of a Bozanic corner, his 60th minute header at the near post squaring things up at 1-1.

Mariners: 1 (Zwaanswijk 60')

Jets: 1 (Haliti 17')

AAP

Tags: a-league, soccer, sport, gosford-2250, nsw, australia

First posted January 14, 2012 20:34:11

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Soccer group seeks central home for game

Posted May 15, 2011 07:22:00

A case is being built for a home of soccer in southern Tasmania.

Football Federation Tasmania wants a soccer centre to be built which would include several grounds for school teams to play and train on.

The Federation has commissioned Deloitte to investigate a suitable place around Hobart for a centre.

Sean Collins from Football Federation Tasmania says southern Tasmania lacks the infrastructure needed for the popular sport.

"We've got 14-thousand players in Tasmania, we're the fastest growing participant sport and the problem particularly with the juniors is we're running out of grounds."

"And also the grounds that we do have in the winter often get closed, they're not up to par," Mr Collins said.

Tags: sports-organisations, football, tas, hobart-7000

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