The Roar fell 2-1 to the Central Coast Mariners in the Isuzu UTE A-League after a 79th-minute goal from a corner settled the contest in front of a lively crowd at Kayo Stadium in Redcliffe.
The opening stages were fiercely contested in the midfield with numerous fouls and limited opportunities at both ends.
The men in orange combined well down the right wing on several occasions, with Michael Ruhs and Youstin Salas creating problems for the Mariners’ defence, though they couldn’t quite find the final pass to truly test goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne.
In the 40th minute, the Mariners’ Sabit Ngor was released with a long ball over the Roar defence and broke through on goal, but his shot sailed well over the crossbar and the goalless deadlock held.
A minute before the end of regulation time in the first half, Salas whipped in a low cross that deflected off Mariners’ centre-back Storm Roux and fell to Nicolas D’Agostino, who fizzed a clean volley into the back of the net to notch his first goal since his return to the Roar.
But the fans’ joy was short-lived when just minutes later the Mariners struck back. Winning possession in midfield, the Mariners worked the ball wide to Lucas Mauragis, whose low cross was lashed home by Miguel Di Pizio to equalise.
The teams went into the break tied 1-1.
Five minutes after the restart, Sam Klein threaded a pass to Ruhs, who was taken down by a controversial challenge from Bradley Tapp inside the box. Despite appeals from both the Den and the Roar for a penalty, the referee waved play on.
On a counterattack in the 62nd minute, the Mariners combined quickly up the pitch, and Bailey Brandtman fired a close-range shot from the left side of the box that went wide.
Down the other end, fifteen minutes later, Ruhs received the ball in the box and played it across, where a deflection sent it to Justin Vidic. He shot it over the oncoming Mariners’ defence, but it went wide.
In the 79th minute, after a loping Mariners corner, the ball went back and forth and fell to Roux, who slotted the ball home to give his side the lead.
Despite their efforts to level the scores in the remainder of the match, the Roar fell 2-1 to the Mariners.
The Roar now turn their attention to their clash against the Melbourne Victory in Melbourne next Saturday afternoon.
