Boogaard and Heffernan set for pre-season starts
Another experimental Central Coast Mariners squad will take to the pitch
against Spirit FC at Christie Park tomorrow night, though the yellow and
navy have been boosted by the fresh inclusions of Nigel Boogaard and
Dean Heffernan.
Both Boogaard and Heffernan missed the Mariners' opening trial match of
the new season against the Central Coast Lightning last Tuesday through
representative commitments and injury respectively.
Boogaard, having today returned from a successful Intercontinental Cup
campaign with the Qantas Under 23's in Malaysia, is a chance to make an
appearance at Christie Park, while Heffernan, who has not played since
breaking his leg against Sydney FC in December of last year, is
available for selection.
The key duo, who were two of the Mariners strongest performers
throughout season three, will be joined at Christie Park by a host of
triallists, as was the case when the Mariners were held to a 0-0
stalemate by the Lightning at Pluim Park a week ago.
Included amongst the triallist contingent are Mariners Youth Academy
graduates Nathan Moseley and Brady Smith, as well as NSW Premier League
starlets David D'Apuzzo of APIA Leichhardt and Nathan Sherlock of Sydney
Olympic.
Prior to the main game, a selection of Mariners National Youth League
hopefuls will play against Spirit FC's Under 20's side, with Mariners
Development Manager Alex Tobin one of many that will be watching on with
interest.
"It's very important for the triallists to perform in these types of
games, you can watch kids train and you can see a lot in training, but
you really don't know whether they will sink or swim until they actually
play in a game situation," said Tobin.
"We're progressing quite well, we're perhaps ahead of where we need to
be in some sense, we've started pre-season reasonably early and the
players have adapted well, they're a very fit group at the moment and
getting fitter all the time.
"It's a long way to the start of the regular Hyundai A-League season,
but the boys are very well prepared at the moment."
Tomorrow's match up at Christie Park marks the fourth occasion the two
clubs have met in friendly fixtures.
Spirit FC were the first club to ever oppose the Mariners in any type of
fixture - that match taking on place on Wednesday, 30 March 2005.
The Mariners claimed a 3-0 victory on that occasion with goals coming
from Andrew Clark, Boogaard and Adam Kwasnik.
Kwasnik was again on the mark one year later - slotting three past the
Spirit in addition to Stewart Petrie's opener to secure a 4-1 triumph
for the yellow and navy.
Most recently, Spirit FC achieved a famous result when holding the
Mariners to a 1-1 draw, with Sasho Petrovski's first goal for the
Central Coast after joining the club from Sydney FC being cancelled out
some twenty minutes from fulltime by Spirit FC player Tim Simpson.
"We're very much looking forward to it - early in the season you want to
get in as many games as possible leading up to the regular season," said
Tobin.
"We still have a number of injury issues and players who aren't quite
there in terms of coming back, so our line up will be similar as to what
it was against the Lightning which is perhaps not full strength but
gives plenty of players an opportunity to cement a spot and to prove to
the coaches that they're good enough."
Central Coast Mariners Squad
1. Matthew Trott (gk), 2. David D'Apuzzo, 4. Ian McAndrew, 5. Bradley
Porter, 7. John Hutchinson, 8. Dean Heffernan, 9. Nathan Moseley, 11.
Damien Brown, 12. Brady Smith, 13. Nathan Sherlock, 15. Andrew Clark,
16. Nigel Boogaard, 17. Ben Glachan, 18. Alex Wilkinson, 19. Adam
Kwasnik, 21. Ahmad Elrich, 22. Sasho Petrovski, 27. Dylan Macallister
The Mariners continue their pre-season trial match program against
reigning NSW State League 1 Champions Spirit FC at Christie Park
tomorrow, Wednesday, 28 May. Kick off is at 7.30pm.
http://www.ccmariners.com.au/default.aspx?s=ccfc_news_item&id=22310
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For those that need to know ... Mr Paul Orgad will be No. 14 for Spirit.
Former Socceroo Jason Van Blerk unlikely to be on the team sheet.