Mariners Academy snatch late draw against Manly United

The Central Coast Mariners Academy gave away their first-half lead and came from behind to level the scores 2-2 late at Pluim Park against a well drilled Manly United FC.
It was tough conditions for both sides during the Saturday night fixture with majority of the field covered in a thick layer of fog.
But the Central Coast Mariners Academy side was fuelled with confidence, coming off the back of the club’s first win of the season in the Waratah Cup clash midweek, and the side did enough to pick up their second point of the 2013 IGA National Premier Leagues NSW Mens 1 campaign.
A cagey start saw Central Coast skipper Jamie Lobb pick up a yellow card in the 8′ minute of play that triggered majority of Manly’s attack down the right hand side of the park.
Brendan Cholakian linked up well with the Manly right side to direct most of their go forward towards the flank earning advantageous field position for the away side.
Despite several attacking breaks, and dangerous set pieces by Manly on the right, the Mariners Academy defence held its structure and anything that slipped by was thwarted with confidence by gloveman Jordan Nikolovski who came up with numerous important pick ups.
Jed Prater, Jamie Lobb and Daniel Bragg were putting in the hard yards at the back to steady the Mariners’ defence as well as 15-year-old Daniel McFarlane who dropped back to chip in where needed.
Manly held plenty of possession in the opening 15′ minutes however it was the home team who opened the scoring in the 42′ minute that was slightly against the run of play through an own goal to Manly’s Joshua Lawson.
United positioned many aerial threats in the opening half, as well as their biggest chance when Scott Balderson teamed up with Cholakian with a clever one-two however Nikolovski was too good on the ground to push the chance away in the 17′ minute.
Manly may have been unlucky to hit the sheds down at half-time but they came out in the second-half looking to equalise early as a low cross from again, the right side, found the danger man Balderson in the box who was shut down early.
The fog set in for the second-half, which made it difficult for any ball coming out of the far corners that the Manly side was running into.
An hour into the match the home side found a second wind and pressed hard into the final third however Graeme Forbes was their rock at the back who dominantly veered away the attack. 
A scrappy challenge in the box was the end of the Central Coast Academy lead that awarded a penalty to Manly. Matthew Sim stepped up to the spot and drove it home to level the scores in the 68′ minute.
After a successful attempt from the spot, Simm was not finished there as he stepped up again just 2′ minutes later to drive home a half chance on the edge of the area, which took an unfortunate deflection to give Manly a 2-1 lead.
The Mariners showed plenty of fight in the final 15′ minutes and were unfortunate not to find an equaliser in the 80′ minute as substitute Christopher Payne hit a bullet from close range that was stopped by his own teammate on the line. 
But their persistence was rewarded just 2′ minutes later with a brilliant piece of play down the right hand side with speedster Ridge Mapu finding yards off space and beat his marker to link up with Scott Pettit. Pettit flicked onto Tomislav Cirjak who added the finishing touch and equaled the score.
Manly’s keeper, Dylan Mitchell was able to get two hands on the shot but Cirjak had too much power, which saw the ball over the line.
A grandstand finish was set for the final couple of minutes although Mariners Academy were forced to see out the closing minutes with ten men as Brady Smith picked up a straight red card but Manly failed to capitalise ending the match on equal terms.
Manly’s Scott Balderson enjoyed the road trip to the Central Coast and found the tough conditions easier than expected:
“It’s much easier to come up here than it is heading out west to be honest.
 “The fog wasn’t too bad once you get your head on the game, kept the ball on the deck rather than in the air.”
“Next week we have Sutho at home, we have to stick to our game plan and focus on what we have been doing best all season which is keeping it simple. If you can keep it simple in this league and muscle it because there are some big lads so if you can’t match it physically you’re gunna struggle.
Central Coast goal scorer was relieved to put his chance away and touched on the side’s misfortune this season:
“That game was a big battle and it was lucky we got back. First-half we did well and second-half was a shambles but it was good that the team held out and got a draw.
“To be honest we have deserved a lot more all year, we have been quite unlucky with our results but today it would have been really good to get three points.
“It was lucky my shot went in, I was quite surprised that it went in because I missed the two before that but I was happy to get a goal.”
“Next week, minimum three points.”
With a win in the midweek fixture the Mariners have two consecutive unbeaten games, which will be huge going into their away clash with Rockdale City Suns where they will need a win to uproot them from the bottom of the table.
Match Stats
Central Coast Mariners Academy 2 (Joshua Lawson 42’ (og), Tomislav Cirjak 81’)
Manly United FC 2 (Matthew Sim 68’, 71’)
Saturday 11th May, 2013
Venue: Pluim Park
Referee: Adam Gehrig
Assistant Referees: Glen Peterkin & James Cleal
Fourth Official: Sandro Petricarini
Central Coast Mariners Academy: 1.Jordan Nikolovski, 3.Jamie Lobb, 7.Scott Pettit, 8.Daniel Bragg, 9.James Monie (6.Christopher Payne 52’), 16.Jed Prater, 18.Dean Caletti (5.Brady Smith 70’),10.Tomislav Cirjak, 22.Liam O’Dell, 26.Ridge Mapu, 29.Daniel McFarlane (2.Matthew Crowell 56’)
Substitutes Not Used: 11.Louis Bozanic, 20.Beyhan Irmako
Yellow Cards: Jamie Lobb 8’, Jed Prater 58’
Red Cards: Brady Smith 88’
Manly United FC: 1.Dylan Mitchell, 3.Roberto Hamad (6.Daniel Grant 45’), 4.Graeme Forbes, 5.Joshua Lawson, 7.Scott Balderson, 15.James Oates (25.Dominic Ferguson 75’), 10.Colin Iley (30.Jack Green 89’), 11.Matthew Sim, 12.Brendan Cholakian, 14.David Cain,16.Josh Ward
Substitutes Not Used: 20.Tonu Liiband, 38.Dylan Whitlock,
Yellow Cards: Roberto Hamad 25’, Scott Balderson 79’
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings:
3 – Scott Balderson (MUFC)
2 – Matt Simm (MUFC)
1 – Tomislav Cirjak (CCM)
-By Tyson Scott