Sydney FC’s high-flying National Youth League side has stretched its lead at the top of the table after scoring a convincing win over rivals, the Central Coast Mariners this-evening at Gosford’s Bluetongue Stadium.
Sydney FC-s high-flying National Youth League side has stretched its lead at the top of the table after scoring a convincing win over rivals, the Central Coast Mariners this-evening at Gosford-s Bluetongue Stadium.
Despite going into the game without several of their regular starters, the Sky Blues began strongly and opened the scoring thanks to a well taken effort from defender, Zach Cairncross when the hosts failed to successfully clear the ball out of their danger zone with only 5 minutes gone on the clock.
That sparked the Central Coast into action and Vedran Janjetovic was called on to save his side in the Sydney goal when Lawrence Braude took aim in the 12th minute.
It was the woodwork that came to the visitor-s rescue when Darko Vidovic lined up a header from the resulting corner, but the pressure seemed destined to pay off for the Mariners eventually, and in the 29th minute Greg Owens slammed the ball into the back-of-the-net to even the scores when he was left unmarked deep inside Sydney-s penalty area.
The match continued to be a fluctuating affair up until half time but after the break the young Sky Blues stuck another early blow, with Sam Munro-s persistence allowing him to match Cairncross-s effort and claim his first goal in Sydney colours to re-establish the visitor-s advantage.
In the 66th minute the road back for the Central Coast began to look a lot more difficult when Brady Smith was given his marching orders after receiving a second yellow, and after dominating the final third of the match, Sydney sealed it with a well taken finish by a flying Kofi Danning three-minutes out from full time.
With nine wins from ten starts Sydney FC-s young guns will be out to extend their dominance when they take to Cromer Park in Manly next Saturday to face the fourth placed Perth Glory.
Match Detail
Central Coast Mariners 1 (Greg OWENS 29′)
Sydney FC 3 (Zach CAIRNCROSS 5-, Sam MUNRO 48-, Kofi DANNING 87-)
Central Coast Mariners: 30. Andrew REDMAYNE (gk) (Matthew NASH (gk) (OA) 45-), 2. Steven TIBBETTS (Nick KAPSIS 59-), 6. David D-APUZZO (Matthew LEWIS 59-), 7. Andrew CLARK (OA), 9. Brady SMITH (c), 10. Glen TRIFIRO, 11. Darko VIDOVIC (Ty OWENS 59-), 12. Scott WRIGHT, 13. Laurence BRAUDE, 14. Greg OWENS (OA), 16. Paul O-GRADY (OA).
Substitutes not used: nil.
Yellow Cards: Brady SMITH 42-/66-, Greg OWENS 68-, Ty OWENS 72-.
Red Cards: Brady SMITH 66′.
Goals: Greg OWENS 29-.
Sydney FC: 20. Vedran JANJETOVIC (gk), 2. Rhyan GRANT, 4. Chris TRIANTIS (c), 5. Luke AUSTIN (Kearyn BACCUS 57-), 7. Robbie MILESKI, 8. Marc WARREN, 9. Kerim BULUT (Corey CAMEIRO 60-), 10. Zach CAIRNCROSS, 11. Kofi DANNING, 12. Ibrahim HAYDAR, 13. Sam MUNRO.
Substitutes not used: nil.
Yellow Cards: Kerim BULUT 36′, Marc WARREN 38′.
Red Cards: nil.
Goals: Zach CAIRNCROSS 5-, Sam MUNRO 48-, Kofi DANNING 87-.
Referee: Kurt Ams.
