National Youth League Week 16
At Owen Park, Southport
GOLD COAST UNITED YOUTH 3 (Rigters 33’, 52’, Yeboah 79’)
CENTRAL COAST MARINERS YOUTH 6 (Stanojevic 9’, Jurman 26’, Musialik 70’, Mitchell Duke 72’, Appiah-Kubi 82’/86’)
HT: 1-2
Referee: Jason Crow
DESPITE fighting back from two goals down to draw level at 2-2, Gold Coast United Youth went down to Central Coast Mariners Youth in a nine-goal thriller at Owen Park.
A Maceo Rigters double gave Gold Coast hope of going on to win the game after drawing level, but National Youth League leaders Central Coast turned up the heat to add four more goals to their tally and win the match 6-3.
Gold Coast barely had time to get their game into gear before the Mariners hit the front in the 9th minute. Adrian Pellegrino’s corner was allowed to drop in the box, leaving Nikola Stanojevic with the simple job of poking the ball over the line from less than a metre out.
Midway through the first half Mariners’ striker Justin Haywood almost doubled his side’s lead with a looping header that skimmed the United crossbar before bouncing to safety.
But just minutes later the visitors took advantage of their greater possession when Ben Jurman drilled an unstoppable drive past Brendan White in the Gold Coast goal.
United’s Chris Lucas had a great chance to half the deficit on 30 minutes when played in by Severino, only to stab his effort wide.
At 2-0 down Gold Coast finally looked to have settled into their stride and after Severino tried his luck from distance Maceo Rigters pulled one back for the home side. The Mariners’ rearguard coughed up possession on the edge of their own box and Rigters made the most of the invitation by sliding the ball under keeper Dylan Mitchell.
The half ended in controversy when the Mariners had what they thought was a third goal ruled out when Pellegrino was adjudged to be in an offside position. Although lying on the ground at the time, Pellegrino was flagged as Adrian Caceres’ thumping drive smashed into the post before hitting white in the back and ending up in the net.
The incident proved to be a crucial turning point in the game as six minutes into the second period United levelled the scores. Given way too much time on the edge of the box, Maceo Rigters shaped for the shot and duly drilled a fearsome drive into the net from 20 metres.
Although both sides lacked their usual cohesion, the action swung from end to end and the game looked there for the taking for the team that could find the killer instinct in front of goal.
In the 70th minute it was the visitors who found the cutting edge with a two-minute double salvo that all but ended the match as a contest. First to strike was Stuart Musialik who swept a 20-metre free kick into the top corner to make it 3-2, then before Gold Coast could take a breath Mitchell Duke added a fourth with a fine curling effort from the edge of the box.
United made a game of it in the closing stages by pulling one back with eleven minutes remaining when young striker Kwame Yeboah’s left-foot drive found the net. However, United’s hope of staging a late comeback evaporated moments later when Appiah-Kubi raced clear of the Gold Coast defence to score his side’s fifth goal and secure the points for the Mariners.
Right at the death Appiah-Kubi completed his brace, adding a sixth for the visitors with a simple finish from close range.