Brisbane Roar Youth have suffered a loss at the hands of Central Coast Mariners Youth, going down 5-2 at Spencer Park on Tuesday afternoon.
Although starting positively, the Roar Youth were outplayed all over the park by their opponents and had no answers for Hyundai A-League young gun Mustafa Amini.
Both sides went on the attack from the outset, pushing high up the field in the hope of an early breakthrough.
While the Roar Youth created a number of chances on the back of dynamic winger Rocky Visconte, it was the Mariners who dictated the early stages of the match.
After 20 minutes the Mariners thought they had made the breakthrough when Nicholas Fitzgerald tapped in from the far post; however the assistant referee ruled him offside.
The disallowed goal only seemed to inspire the Mariners, who were rewarded for their consistent pressure in the 22nd minute when Bernie Ibini-Isei capitalised on some indecision within the Roar Youth defence, blasting home from close range.
The tall Central Coast striker easily shed his marker to collect a deadly a through ball before calmly dispatching his powerful shot into the bottom corner of the net.
The Roar Youth looked to fight back straight away, again looking to Visconte to spark the attack and the speedy midfielder duly obliged setting up Matt Thurtell to level the scores in the 30th minute.
Visconte outran his defender before cutting deep into the box and unleashing a pinpoint cross to Thurtell who took no time in tapping the ball into the back of the net, tying the scores at one a piece.
The see- sawing match took another turn in the 40th minute when the Mariners unleashed a quick counter attack through Mitchell Duke who provided another deft pass for Ibini-Isei to hammer the ball past the Roar ‘keeper Andrew Redmayne, taking his and the Mariners tally to two.
While the Roar looked to consolidate their position in the final moments before the break, it was again the Mariners who continued to dominate, with Trent Sainsbury adding a third goal for the away side when the defender found himself unmarked and in position in the penalty area.
With the Mariners holding a 3-1 lead at the start of the second half, the Roar Youth looked to mount their comeback early on with Head Coach John Sime bringing on attacking players Josh Groenewald and Josh McVey, hoping the fresh legs would bring some added spark to his side.
The changes had an early impact with McVey and Groenewald-s energy proving to be troublesome for the Mariners defence, none more so that in the 50th minute when McVey-s lead up play giving Visconte time to deliver a pinpoint cross to Alastair Quinn; however the midfielder couldn-t finish sending his shot just wide of the post.
It was McVey-s desperation in the 64th that lead to the Roar-s second goal, a combination of hard work and luck giving Groenewald his first goal for the Roar Youth this season.
On the back of a poor goal kick from Mariners custodian David Bradasevic, McVey raced in and after the ball deflected to the feet of Josh Groenewald, the striker hit the empty net from just outside the box.
Unfortunately for the home fans it was the Mariners who scored next in the 80th minute, through substitute Mitch Mallia, all but ending the Roar-s slim chances of a comeback as the home side trailed 4-2.
Mallia added insult to injury only minutes later when he once again found the back of the net, breaking free to tap home at the far post giving the Mariners an unassailable 5-2 lead and the win.
Brisbane Coach John Sime felt that his side failed to keep up with the intensity of the Mariners especially in defence and was disappointed in the large number of turnovers committed by his midfield.
“It wasn-t out best performance out there today, the Mariners are a very good side and they came at us with a lot of energy early on and we struggled to break them down,” said Sime.
“The midfield was probably one area where we struggled the most; we lost a lot of ball and had trouble stringing passes together.”
“Hopefully we can work on this over the next few days at training.”
Sime was philosophical when asked how his side would look to turn things around with only two days until their next match, stating that his boys just need to ensure they are doing the little things right.
“While the short turnaround is difficult, it is a part of the game we must accept and hopefully we can quickly move on from today-s result,” Sime said.
“If the boys get back to performing to their usual high standards I have no doubt that we will be much improved from today.”
Brisbane Roar 2 (Matthew Thurtell 30-, Joshua GROENEWALD 64-)
Central Coast Mariners 5 (Bernie IBINI-ISEI 22-, 41-, Trent SAINSBURY 45-+2, Mitch Mallia 80-, 81-)
Tuesday, 1 February 2011
Spencer Park, Brisbane
Referee: Alan Milliner
Brisbane Roar line-up: 1.Andrew REDMAYNE (gk), 3.Alastair QUINN, 4. Matthew BYRNE, 5. Daniel BOWLES, 7.Christopher BUSH (C), 8.James DONACHIE, 9. Matthew THURTELL (11. Josh MCVEY 46-), 10. Jacob MCLEAN (6. Joshua GROENWALD 46-), 12. Kenneth DOUGALL (14. Ross ARCHIBALD 58-), 13. Dane MILOVANOVIC, 15. Rocco VISCONTE.
Substitutes not used: 20. Matt ACTON (gk)
Yellow Cards: Dane MILOVANOVIC 75-
Red Cards: Nil
Central Coast Mariners line-up: 3. Jerry KALOURIS (17. Sam GALLAGHER 46-), 4. Alexander MANSUETO, 5. James OATES, 6. Sam MUNRO (C), 8. Nicholas FITZGERALD, 9. Bernie IBINI-ISEI (11.Mitchell MALLIA 48-), 10. Mitchell DUKE, 12. Matthew LEWIS, 14. Mustafa AMINI (7.Brendan GRIFFIN 60-), 15. Trent SAINSBURY, 20. David BRADASEVIC (gk).
Substitutes Not Used: 1.Nikodan MATIC (GK)
Yellow cards: James OATES 74-
Red Cards: Nil
