Roy Law
Well-Known Member
Macca’s Back
Better, much better; the Champions are showing signs of wakening from their slumber. A brilliant first half, a resolute second half and Sydney flattered by the score line. There was so much to like about this display.
Phil Moss rang the changes again, Marcel Seip taking his turn to partner Sainsbury at the centre of defence; Monty was fit to return; and McBreen reclaimed the leading of the line.
Sydney was without the aged genius Del Pierro and the ageing former Socceroo Bret Emerton but they did have former Mariner favourite Pedj Bojic who was immediately in the action. His delicate flighted cross to the far post after just two minutes confused Storm Roux, who under pressure from Abbas, knocked the ball back onto his own post; fortunately Reddy scrambled the ball clear. Five minutes later Bojic was in again, McGlinchey sleeping on watch but the cross was tame. These attacks seemed to sound an ominous warning but was a false alarm; Sydney faded as the Mariners grew stronger.
Storm Roux was living up to his name, storming forward in combination with the lively Duke but it was Rose who was to make the telling contribution, exploiting the space afforded by Bojic with the help of McGlinchey and Flores. In the seventh minute his cross was converted by Duke but offside was given. Rose persisted and in the twentieth minute his cross was met by McBreen for the opener, a deft flick off the inside of his left boot. And in the closing minutes of the half McBreen somehow butchered a great opportunity when Rose’s cross gave him the simplest of chances.
The Mariners were dominating the play: Montgomery driving the side from midfield, Hutchinson controlling the tempo, the full backs getting wide, McBreen leading the line impressively, but it was the magical work of McGlinchey and Flores that caught the eye. The brilliant duo weaved elaborate patterns in tandem, confusing the Sydney defence and delighting the crowd.
They over-egged it at times, there seemed too many passes, and you wanted them just to simply have a shot at goal, to have a dig, but often the passing came to nothing. Not that there weren’t chances, apart from the McBreen miss Roux, Duke and Flores all had chances as Sydney were being pulled open.
Just to remind us that 1-0 is never secure Trent Sainsbury, of all people, missed a tackle; the crowd gasped at the uncharacteristic error, but Sydney, characteristically, could not capitalise.
As the Mariners went to the break one goal to the good you thought what a pity McBreen missed that sitter: 2-0 would have been a lovely lead and would have set Sydney up for a thrashing.
Seip, who had a pretty decent game, started the second half with a yellow card for a rash challenge. He is described as a no-nonsense defender but I thought the tackle unnecessary, i think he could have won enough of the ball with a legitimate challenge. There are other A League referees who would have issued a straight red.
Around the hour mark the Mariners were starting to fall back, defending deep, too deep for comfort, and allowing Sydney back into the game. Our passing and movement lost its precision and energy.
Sainsbury was defending like an assassin, snuffing out the Sydney raids and what he could not get to Reddy was dealing with superbly but the game was crying out for a lift.
When Flores sat down and rubbed his leg it was a clear indication he was out of gas but Moss still waited; Duke too, was giving the ball away as fatigue kicked in. I would have brought on Caceres at this point and Sterjovski, who is so capable of something special, but it was another ten minutes before change was made with Simon on for Flores and Sterj for Duke.
As if to warn that these changes were timely Reddy was forced into a wonderful diving take but the Mariners began to wrest back the initiative. Matt Simon was through on goal from Sterjovski’s pass but Janjetovic did well to come out and block, Reddy saved a shot from distance, and then Simon was through again but just didn’t have the pace and was caught in the penalty area.
The Mariners finished with a flourish: Sterjovski iht the post with a clever shot; another centimetre to the right and it would have been a goal. He is such a class act! And then McGlinchey in the last seconds brought a flying save from the keeper.
Every player can look back on this game with satisfaction; the Mariners are back. I thought Reddy was top drawer, the full backs dynamic, Monty and Hutch gave grunt and power to the artistry of Flores and McGlinchey and what a pleasure to have McBreen not only leading the line but being a leader of the team on the field. My MoM goes though to Sainsbury, that one uncharacteristic error apart, he was Socceroo Brazil-bound class.
Better, much better; the Champions are showing signs of wakening from their slumber. A brilliant first half, a resolute second half and Sydney flattered by the score line. There was so much to like about this display.
Phil Moss rang the changes again, Marcel Seip taking his turn to partner Sainsbury at the centre of defence; Monty was fit to return; and McBreen reclaimed the leading of the line.
Sydney was without the aged genius Del Pierro and the ageing former Socceroo Bret Emerton but they did have former Mariner favourite Pedj Bojic who was immediately in the action. His delicate flighted cross to the far post after just two minutes confused Storm Roux, who under pressure from Abbas, knocked the ball back onto his own post; fortunately Reddy scrambled the ball clear. Five minutes later Bojic was in again, McGlinchey sleeping on watch but the cross was tame. These attacks seemed to sound an ominous warning but was a false alarm; Sydney faded as the Mariners grew stronger.
Storm Roux was living up to his name, storming forward in combination with the lively Duke but it was Rose who was to make the telling contribution, exploiting the space afforded by Bojic with the help of McGlinchey and Flores. In the seventh minute his cross was converted by Duke but offside was given. Rose persisted and in the twentieth minute his cross was met by McBreen for the opener, a deft flick off the inside of his left boot. And in the closing minutes of the half McBreen somehow butchered a great opportunity when Rose’s cross gave him the simplest of chances.
The Mariners were dominating the play: Montgomery driving the side from midfield, Hutchinson controlling the tempo, the full backs getting wide, McBreen leading the line impressively, but it was the magical work of McGlinchey and Flores that caught the eye. The brilliant duo weaved elaborate patterns in tandem, confusing the Sydney defence and delighting the crowd.
They over-egged it at times, there seemed too many passes, and you wanted them just to simply have a shot at goal, to have a dig, but often the passing came to nothing. Not that there weren’t chances, apart from the McBreen miss Roux, Duke and Flores all had chances as Sydney were being pulled open.
Just to remind us that 1-0 is never secure Trent Sainsbury, of all people, missed a tackle; the crowd gasped at the uncharacteristic error, but Sydney, characteristically, could not capitalise.
As the Mariners went to the break one goal to the good you thought what a pity McBreen missed that sitter: 2-0 would have been a lovely lead and would have set Sydney up for a thrashing.
Seip, who had a pretty decent game, started the second half with a yellow card for a rash challenge. He is described as a no-nonsense defender but I thought the tackle unnecessary, i think he could have won enough of the ball with a legitimate challenge. There are other A League referees who would have issued a straight red.
Around the hour mark the Mariners were starting to fall back, defending deep, too deep for comfort, and allowing Sydney back into the game. Our passing and movement lost its precision and energy.
Sainsbury was defending like an assassin, snuffing out the Sydney raids and what he could not get to Reddy was dealing with superbly but the game was crying out for a lift.
When Flores sat down and rubbed his leg it was a clear indication he was out of gas but Moss still waited; Duke too, was giving the ball away as fatigue kicked in. I would have brought on Caceres at this point and Sterjovski, who is so capable of something special, but it was another ten minutes before change was made with Simon on for Flores and Sterj for Duke.
As if to warn that these changes were timely Reddy was forced into a wonderful diving take but the Mariners began to wrest back the initiative. Matt Simon was through on goal from Sterjovski’s pass but Janjetovic did well to come out and block, Reddy saved a shot from distance, and then Simon was through again but just didn’t have the pace and was caught in the penalty area.
The Mariners finished with a flourish: Sterjovski iht the post with a clever shot; another centimetre to the right and it would have been a goal. He is such a class act! And then McGlinchey in the last seconds brought a flying save from the keeper.
Every player can look back on this game with satisfaction; the Mariners are back. I thought Reddy was top drawer, the full backs dynamic, Monty and Hutch gave grunt and power to the artistry of Flores and McGlinchey and what a pleasure to have McBreen not only leading the line but being a leader of the team on the field. My MoM goes though to Sainsbury, that one uncharacteristic error apart, he was Socceroo Brazil-bound class.
