A 3-1 win for Central Coast Mariners at Macedonia Park on a sweltering Sunday evening has seen them leapfrog Perth Glory on the table and move to 5th spot, whilst the loss means the hosts have fallen out of the top six for the first time this season.
Goals by Kyah Simon (46th minute), Bianca Galic (76′) and Annalise Rasmussen (83′) turned the game in the Mariners’ favour after Millie Farrow gave the home team the lead in the 25th minute.
Perth Glory’s Poor Form Continues
The loss on Sunday means that Glory has not won a game this year, has now gone seven games without a win, and hasn’t won at home since Round 4 against Adelaide United, now falling out of the top six for the first time this season. On Sunday they mustered just three shots in total compared to 17 shots by the Mariners, and they have the worst shot differential in the league with 303 shots faced and just 144 shots made. Without the form of Morgan Aquino, they would have suffered a heavier loss on Sunday, and coach Alex Epakis has a mighty task on his hands to turn things around and admitted he was not happy with his team’s performance in his post-match comments.
“I wasn’t happy. I thought up until we scored, everything we were doing was good. We were building up, creating chances and then after we scored, it just looked like a bit of a different team, to be honest. There were a lot of turnovers which brought them into the game, but as a whole, it wasn’t good enough. It wasn’t good enough by my standards, the player’s standards and we all acknowledge that and we need to fix that quickly.” he said.
The team seems to have lost all confidence in themselves and, as Epakis admitted, they play direct football when things are not working.
“We’ve just got to have the mental stamina to keep playing the same way for 90 minutes. We can’t just keep fluctuating between one way and the other. I think when the momentum is against us we revert to more of a direct play, and I think that comes (down) to pressure, scoreboard pressure, etcetera, etcetera and we need to be better.”
A major reason for the loss of form was again evident on Sunday, as they lacked any meaningful threat going forward. They had just one touch in the opponent’s box and a mere 89 passes in the opposition’s half. They didn’t have a single corner in the game and only had six crosses. The possession they did have was mainly in the form of sideways and backwards passing in their half before playing a long ball which more often than not resulted in a loss of possession resulting in the turnovers mentioned by Epakis in his post-match comments.
They now have two weeks to try and get back to their early-season form, and will need to have addressed their problems by the time they play Newcastle, or they face a real danger of missing out on finals football.
Central Coast Mariners Love Away Games
The game on Sunday was the 9th they have played away from home and they have earned 18 points on the road compared to just seven at home. They have only won one game in front of their fans but have tasted victory six times on their travels, including Sunday’s 3-1 win.
Coach Emily Husband was asked about this during the post-match press conference, and felt that the players performed better away from home as many of them were less relaxed when playing in front of their home crowd, due to their inexperience in playing at this level.
“We’re a brand new group together so I think you know these times when you’re away, you bond that little bit more and you have that little bit more unity. (I feel) we have the best home crowd in the A-League and sometimes that can be a little bit overwhelming for the new players we have brought into the league this year.”
Kyah Simon Is Getting Back To Her Best
After her ACL rupture last season, Kyah Simon has been slowly working her way back to full match fitness and on Sunday she made her first start for the Mariners after previously coming on as a substitute in her previous three games. She capped off a fine display with the equaliser just before half-time having hit the woodwork just a minute earlier. She was a constant threat in the box and had four shots in total with six touches in the Glory penalty area. Her link-up play with Bianca Galic was particularly impressive and her coach was happy with the contribution of not just Simon but her whole attacking force;
“We know we’ve got a lot of quality up top. We know that’s one of our strengths obviously, especially now bringing Kyah back in as well. We’ve got an abundance (of talent) up top and if we can get good delivery in and provide the service, we know we’ll score goals.”
The Expanded Competition Is Working
At the end of round 17 and with just five more rounds to go, the battle for places in the top six is heating up with nine points between 1st and 8th, and just three points separating 4th placed Melbourne Victory from 8th placed Perth Glory.
The decision to expand the competition to 12 teams and have a full set of home and away fixtures has brought immediate dividends and has seen results become increasingly tight. Any one team in the league is capable of beating another, as has been seen with both Canberra United and Adelaide United taking points from Melbourne City in recent weeks.
If teams can string a run of two or three wins together then they can quickly move up the table and this makes for one of the most exciting competitions in a long time.
The Heat
The recent heatwaves in Perth have seen the mercury climb to 40° or more on seven occasions this month alone, and on Sunday the temperature peaked at 42.9°C. Come kick-ff the mercury was still around 36.5°C, only dropping to 35°C by full-time. The energy levels of the players had fallen considerably by the end of the game, and it was no surprise to see drinks breaks as well as players taking drinks on board whenever there was an injury. The fans were also feeling the heat with many of them using paper fans to keep themselves cool.
Neither coach felt the heat was a factor in the result, but both admitted it was something they had to factor in during their preparations for the game and also their game management to ensure players were not unduly stressed.
Playing a winter game in the heat of an Australian summer will always lead to heat concerns, so perhaps there needs to be a change in the frequency and duration of drinks breaks to try and ensure players are not put at risk.
