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17Apr22
Mariners Hand Wellington Homecoming Mauling
by Jeremy Ruane
It was their first game on home soil in over 300 days, and according to the script, Wellington Phoenix was supposed to emerge triumphant in front of 18.184 fans at Sky Stadium to edge ever closer to clinching a play-offs spot in the Isuzu Ute A-League for the 2021-22 season.
Only one problem - someone in the production team forgot to tell Central Coast Mariners!
The visitors dealt a severe blow to their hosts' playoff prospects - and simultaneously significantly bolstered their own such hopes - by handing Wellington a 4-0 hiding in New Zealand's capital city on Easter Sunday.
As you would expect with not having played on home turf for so long, Wellington was eager to make an early impression upon the gathered throngs, and within ten seconds of kicking off, Jaushua Sotirio had surged through and fired a shot over the bar.
Both James McGarry, with a spectacular volley, and Gael Sandoval also went close inside the first three minutes, while a fifth minute header from the Mexican, who was picked out by Reno Piscopo's corner, crept narrowly past the far post as Wellington, urged on by the crowd, hit the ground running.
Their pressure was incessant, with Daniel Hall forced to head Sandoval's delicious toe-poked cross to the far post past his own goal in the seventh minute, while the charging figure of Sotirio over-hit a pass to Piscopo, who, upon retrieving the ball, delivered a cross which struck Storm Roux on the arm in the penalty area, forcing referee Adam Kersey to wave away Wellington's spot-kick claims in the eleventh minute.
Still they pressed, McGarry marauding down the left before delivering a low cross towards Sandoval which the retreating figure of Josh Nesbit had to cut out. From Piscopo's resulting corner, Mark Birighitti's failure to punch the ball cleared meant Nicolai Muller had to had the inswinging delivery off the line.
Scott Wootton's attempt to head this clearance back into the danger zone was grabbed by the goalkeeper, who launched Central Coast's first attack of the match - it took them fully fifteen minutes to muster one! It was a warning shot across the bows for Wellington, however, Jason Cummings sending a twenty-five yarder fizzing over the bar after working a one-two with Matheus Moresche.
The visitors had already begun to resort to foul means rather than fair in a bid to stave off the seemingly relentless Wellington attacks, but their defence was by now becoming impenetrable from the home team's viewpoint, with both David Ball and Piscopo failing to prise open Central Coast's rearguard in the twentieth minute, while Sandoval fired waywardly when a chance presented itself to him soon after.
Central Coast finally mustered a concerted attack of their own in the 23rd minute. Nesbit, Maxi Balard, Muller and Beni N'Kololo prised open Wellington's rearguard, but Cummings was unable to direct his shot on target at the far post.
Wellington responded via Ball, who caught Nesbit in possession then worked a one-two with Sandoval before powering a shot goalwards. Birighitti could only parry the effort, with Kye Rowles forced to head the danger to safety.
That header sparked a 26th minute counter-attack from which Central Coast opened the scoring. Muller steamed down the left before slipping N'Kololo in on goal through the inside right channel. His first-time shot, under pressure from Tim Payne, arrowed across the hitherto untroubled Oliver Sail and into the net by the base of the far post - 1-0 Mariners.
The goal stunned the crowd into temporary silence, and Central Coast swiftly sought to strike twice while the iron was hot. Only Payne's vital block prevented N'Kololo from executing a shot two minutes after scoring, while on the half-hour, Moresche worked a one-two with Cummings before seeing Sail smother his twenty yard drive.
That first thirty minutes of play had fair flown by, so it was somewhat understandable that both teams struggled to make much headway in the fifteen minutes before half-time. The visitors' 37th minute raid was inspired by N'Kololo's clever off-the-ball run, which drew defenders away as Balard sent Muller dashing down the left.
Sadly for the visitors, Muller's shot lacked the power to trouble Sail, while three minutes before half-time, Hall's timely challenge prevented Piscopo from shooting as he looked to take full advantage of an advantage call by referee Kersey, after McGarry's left wing raid had been brought to an end by foul means, N'Kololo the offender.
Fouls aplenty punctuated the start of the second spell, and Mr Kersey was not a popular figure on or off the park as a result - the fans hadn't come to this match to have its soundtrack dominated by the
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referee's whistle!
It was necessary for it to be blown five minutes into the second half, however, as Louis Fenton and Jacob Farrell endured a clash of heads which left the Wellington man with a cut cheek and in need of a serious patch-up job.
Muller fired the half's first shot in anger in the 52nd minute, a wayward effort which was the signal for the visitors to enjoy their first spell of concerted pressure. Moresche and Roux - he had a fine game - worked an opening on the right soon afterwards which Cummings was unable to capitalise upon, while Moresche engineered an opening in the 58th minute which saw the Mariners appealing for a penalty as Farrell and the back-pedalling figure of Sandoval went to ground in the area.
Referee Kersey rightly rebuffed their claims, but after Fenton and Sandoval had combined on the right to present Ball with a headed chance with which he failed to make full contact, the official was Central Coast's best friend again, as he awarded them their second goal.
It came in the 62nd minute, and was sparked by Balard linking with the lively N'Kololo, who cut inside before linking with Muller. His chipped pass picked out Moresche, whose looping header hit the post. Cummings was following in and headed home the rebound - 2-0.
Three minutes later, the game was beyond Wellington's reach. After N'Kololo had gone close with a rising drive following a right wing raid, the charging figure of substitute Marcos Urena afforded Central Coast fresh attacking impetus.
He linked with Roux, whose chipped first time cross picked out Moresche eight yards out from goal. Despite Sail's best efforts, the Brazilian sweetly steered home the goal which killed off any hopes Wellington harboured of getting back into the contest - at 3-0, this one was over, and the gathered throngs could only look on in disappointment.
Substitute Ben Waine offered them hope in the 69th minute, cleverly beating Hall before delivering a cross beyond all bar Payne, whose header inside struck Farrell's forearm. Howls for a penalty duly followed, but referee Kersey saw no intent in the fullback's actions - play on.
This sparked a concerted spell of Wellington pressure, which was matched stride for stride by Central Coast's defensive efforts. Once the home team had run out of ideas, however, the visitors took charge of proceedings once more, substitute Garang Kuol's 82nd minute cross parting the hair of both Finn Surman and Urena on the far post.
Surman then twice thwarted another visiting substitute, Matthew Hatch, before some brilliant work by Kuol - what a talent this young man is! - saw him somehow wriggle through four challenges in a postage stamp-sized space just inside the area before thrashing a fifteen-yarder narrowly over the bar.
Waine is Wellington's equivalent of Kuol, a different type of player but a youngster with talent aplenty. He neatly controlled Wootton's 89th minute ball forward on the edge of Central Coast's penalty area before holding off two challenges and engineering an opening, only to steer his effort past the far post.
This sparked a late flurry of threats from Wellington as they sought a consolation goal. Substitute Ben Old was denied by a fine Farrell tackle after working a one-two with Waine, who himself was denied by Birighitti's save at his feet soon afterwards as Waine looked to exploit Riley Bidois' through ball.
Old combined with Waine again in stoppage time, the striker's shot being deflected into the side-netting by the well-performed Rowles, while Bidois directed a header past the post after a cleared corner from Sandoval had been delivered back into the danger zone by Nicholas Pennington.
Central Coast absorbed all these threats, then stung Wellington on the counter-attack to score the fourth goal of the game with virtually the last kick of the contest. Roux fed Kuol, who careered past four players before feeding Hatch, who thrashed the ball home beyond Sail to clinch a 4-0 win for the Mariners, who are surely play-offs bound on the evidence of this display.
Whether Wellington will join them remains to be seen. It is very much in their hands, however, and two wins from their last four matches should be sufficient to extend their season beyond the first weekend in May.
Wellington: Sail; Surman, Wootton, Payne; Fenton (Waine, 63), Sandoval, Pennington, Piscopo, McGarry (booked, 54); Sotirio (Bidois, 90), Ball (booked, 33) (Old, 80)
Central Coast: Birighitti; Roux, Hall, Rowles, Farrell; N'Kololo (booked, 77) (Hatch, 78), Nisbet (booked, 31) (Steele, 72), Balard, Muller (Urena, 64); Cummings (Goddard, 78), Moresche (Kuol, 72)
Referee: Adam Kersey
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