RD 21 Mariners V Flying Circus

[tsd]

Someone suggested Sterjovski might be Croatian for Passenger

Sterj created 4 really good chances including dukes goal. Was one of our best

 

[tsd]

Bosnar looked great before going off.

Reddy was superb and probably MOM.

Sim looked really good when he came on......he might even be a better player than Josh.

Fitzy was brilliant in the second half.

 

[Wombat]

Sterj created 4 really good chances including dukes goal. Was one of our best

Yes that was a good ball for Duke.

I thought it was a little harsh but funny.

I will watch the game on telly before making judgement.

 

[rbakersmith]

Was there really only 6500k??? I did my bit and brought 6 extra people along that were going to pike out because of the wet!

It looked it from the western stand. Not too surprised really, especially after it started raining heavily after the match.

Bosnar looked great before going off.

Definitely - hopefully he's good to go for the MV game next week.

Reddy was superb and probably MOM.

Can't fault him at all - I think anyone would have had a hard time with the Garcia goal, and I could watch that free kick save all day. Bonus points for getting up the travelling Cove after full-time If we haven't already started negotiating a contract, now's the time.

Sim looked really good when he came on......he might even be a better player than Josh.

Give that man a contract right now... between him and Ibini coming on we really fired up.

Sydney are Farina is pretty shit and ADP is nothing special at all.

FTFY. On paper they're a decent side, they just need a coach with half a clue for a change.

 

[MagpieMariner]

I've often said a coach is only as good as his cattle. However, looking at Heart's performance since JVS returned, I'm no longer sure that's always the case.

 

[Roy Law]

Weary and Wounded Mariners Win at Last​

Weary and wounded, battered and bloodied, the Mariners had to dig very deep to overcome obstinate resistance from Sydney FC to take the three points. Looking down the barrel of a sixth consecutive defeat it was vital the Mariners got back into the winners circle.
Fresh, if that is the correct word, from the midweek trip to South Korea, the Mariners clearly paid a physical price for that jaunt with Nick Montgomery unavailable for selection. Eddie Bosnar and Mile Sterjovski, who had not gone to Korea, came in to the side with Storm Roux and Bernie Ibini resting on the bench.
The Mariners dominated the first thirty minutes albeit at a conservative pace. Caceres was prominent, controlling the tempo with neat skills. They held possession well; putting together long spells of consecutive passes. The only alarms caused were when over cautious defenders put Reddy under pressure with their passing back. Liam Reddy is not Mat Ryan and so three times he gave the ball away.
The Mariners were turning their patient possession into pressure and eventually the pressure paid off. Seip, playing at right back, took a return pass and surged into space like Pedj Bojic, and like Pedj, his measured cross was closer to the giant sauce bottles than any team mate. Kim Seung-yong picked up the ball after Bosnar had pushed forward, side stepped the defenders, and brought a fine save out of Janjetovic; the ball fell to Sterjovski, whose cross was a class above that of Seip, and he found Josh Rose but his header was easily dealt with by the keeper. The Mariners were building up a head of steam and would not be denied.
Fine interpassing had crafted a chance for Mitch Duke but the referee, showing great judgment, called play back for a foul on Kim. Kim and Bosnar stood over the ball as Sydney organised their wall. They need not have bothered: Kim floated the free kick over the wall and into the net before Janjetovic could move. It was a thing of footballing beauty; Kim gave us a Korean style celebration including kissing the badge. “We sing for yellow!” came loud and clear over the broadcast.
Reddy impressed with a remarkable throw beyond the half way line to Duke; Seip got a dumb yellow when he got the wrong side of Jurman; Roux came on for Bosnar who had injured his groin making a challenge; Seip moved to centre back. The Mariners were beginning to sit back but Reddy broke the siege with a long ball which found Duke but Kim’s finish from his pass was poor. Reddy then went full length to save a wicked bouncing shot from Del Piero.
Sydney introduced Richard Garcia at half time and took over the game. After just five minutes it was clear the Mariners were heavy in their legs; the international travelling of the week was taking its toll. Ten minutes in and Caceres gently caressed Del Piero who fell over. The referee called the foul and Del Piero curled a dangerous free to the top corner of Reddy’s goal; the controversial gloveman produced a stupendous save, arguably the save of the season, flying high to his right to push the ball two handed on to the woodwork and away to safety.
The Mariners were now sitting so deep they were as road base to the flow of Sydney’s traffic; they invited Sydney back into the game. Centre backs Ognenovski and Petkovic were confidently playing in the Mariners’ half. You just wanted the Mariners to go forward; Bernie was needed to lift the siege. Duke rose to the challenge, playing a great ball to Kim which Janjetovic bravely cleared; with him stranded out of his goal Rose only just failed to capitalise on the opportunity.
Inevitably Sydney equalised and the goal had at its heart the new rules of the game which say that tackling is illegal. Moments before, Caceres had won the ball cleanly with a crunching tackle on Abbas, but the referee seemed to deem it was too aggressive and called a foul. So, when Petkovic pushed forward, Caceres was clearly reluctant to challenge and the big Serbian was able to fire a low shot across Reddy who could only parry it away. Garcia cleverly took the goal at the far post.
It seemed Sydney might go on to win this but the Mariners dug deep and found their second wind.
Duke charged after the ball, knocked over Petkovic, took on and beat Ognenovski, but Janjetovic again saved Sydney. Bernie came on for the exhausted Kim, Fitzgerald lifted, and Duke revelled in the support. The pace and confidence of this young trio changed the game but not before Rose came off worst in a head clash with Garcia and was led from the field with blood running down his face. Matt Sim immediately replaced him.
If Kim’s goal was a thing of beauty and Reddy’s save from Del Piero spectacular, then the winning goal was sheer free flowing ecstasy. Hutchinson calmly played the ball from defence; at lightning speed it went from Bernie to Fitzgerald to Sterjovski, out wide on the right. Bernie ran through the centre as fast as Usain Bolt and the defence followed him. Sterjovski found Duke in the space created and Duke took one touch and hammered the ball home. The crowd roared, the cannon exploded, the players mobbed Duke. The joy on Duke’s face said it all: he is back.
In the closing minutes Antonis mercifully hit a rocket straight at Reddy – anywhere else it would have been a goal, and then Fitzgerald lifted the ball over Janjetovic but tantalisingly wide of the goal after another brilliant move between the young guns and the ever willing Sterjovski.
The Mariners finished with ten men as Caceres limped off: he had taken a kick from Del Pierro earlier and had visibly slowed. Heaven knows how Mossy is going to get a team together for next week but spirits will have lifted noticeably after this gutsy performance.
I liked the work of Reddy, Seip, Caceres, Hutchinson, Sterjovski, Fitzgerald, Ibini and Duke; Marcel Seip is my MoM after a game where he put head and body on the line and rarely got things wrong, but it is a close call over the inspirational Mitch Duke

 

[BrisRecky]

the boys played about 83 minutes of outstanding footy...compared to recently anyway....little bit of lateral f**king about in the goal area but not as much as recently....Bernie, Dooks and Fitzy gelled together and Kim is settling in nicely ( did the smurf custodian even move?)...enjoying Matt Sims efforts...and even Fast Eddie impressed before he got clattered twice in front of the ref for no joy....Bay 16 was outstanding as was the hardy folk in attendance who joined in on "who do we sing for" OH... and too that drooling dork dressed like a smurf trying to sneak into the bay to cause ruckus..did you think you were in stealth mode you twonk....and finally, Sydneys Italian diving champion tried his fkn damndest and he had some help from that idiotic moron cretin ref....BUT...WE GOT 2 AND THEY GOT 1 DOO FKN DAH.....

 

[true believer]

Duke proved he can be a handful against two of the better centre backs in the league.

I thought he got over og_monster , physically to . I don't think you'll see that again this year.
dukeys pace and power with Bernie . would have put chills through coachs starting to think of finals.
cometh the afc cometh the mariners

 

[true believer]

Sterj created 4 really good chances including dukes goal. Was one of our best

I think the most pleasant thing for me was the sterj hater in bay 8 wasn't there.
sterjo was outstanding

 

[Kareem]

I thought seip played well but I disliked 1 moment, with 10 mins remaining when the ball was lobbed over our defence (our left hand side).
Sim sprinted back and cleared (to the top tier of the western stand IIRC). Whilst sim was sprinting back to clear the ball I saw Anderson sprint back to edge of box, and I saw seip casually jog back.
I know sim had it covered but there is always that chance a mistake could happen.
Anderson was there just in case, and seip wasn't.
Admittedly that was the only real critique of seips perfermance...as well as a positive reflection on Anderson (who I've started to doubt this past month)
Obviously 30 year old seip was playing his 2nd game in a week, and recovering from travelling to Korea...So maybe I am a tad bit harsh

 

[dibo]

It might sound silly to say that our improved attack came down to our CBs being far better, but it's true.

I've been complaining for a few weeks that we haven't been playing out well. Our CBs haven't been splitting the way they ought to, so the DMs haven't had space to come to the ball, so we've been forced to pick bad options. We lose the ball, we're under pressure again...

Yesterday, it was much better. We played out much more effectively, and we hung onto the ball. That gave our players further forward confidence to make aggressive runs, and even to be patient themselves sometimes and recycle the ball when the chance isn't on.

Sydney tried to press us for errors but we were mostly sound. That little bit of improvement in how we hold onto the ball made all the difference, and I've got to credit the CBs. They did their jobs in possession, so the rest of the structure worked.

Happy days!

 

[Kareem]

I was a bit upset when we had to use our last sub on rose instead of sterj...not anything against sterjovski as a player...more so keeping in mind his ageing body, and the fact I couldn't remember the last time he played the full 90...

But credit to him for making the run down the right hand side for the goal, and playing a perfectly weighted ball for duke.

On that note, the weighting of passes is something we struggle with way too much.
We seem to know the right pass, but often it's too much on the Ball (or occasionally too little).

Well done to sterjovski

 

[MrCelery]

I was a bit upset when we had to use our last sub on rose instead of sterj...not anything against sterjovski as a player...more so keeping in mind his ageing body, and the fact I couldn't remember the last time he played the full 90...

But credit to him for making the run down the right hand side for the goal, and playing a perfectly weighted ball for duke.

On that note, the weighting of passes is something we struggle with way too much.
We seem to know the right pass, but often it's too much on the Ball (or occasionally too little).

Well done to sterjovski

Yes, a great run and pass. Ibini's run off the ball was a critical factor in the move too. More sensible play like that please!

 

[MagpieMariner]

While I'm delighted with the way all our guys played last night, I have to say I thought the Smurfs were crap. They couldn't string passes together for most of the night, they were easily dispossessed, they were slow. All our guys did exactly what they needed to do, it was just about the best 90 minute team performance I've seen from them all season. However the Smurfs didn't make it difficult for us to do that, unlike the teams who've smacked our bums over the last month. Hopefully the increase in confidence will stand us in good stead next weekend against the Tards, who must be having their own confidence crisis after their last two games.

 

[sydmariner]

the boys played about 83 minutes of outstanding footy...compared to recently anyway....little bit of lateral f**king about in the goal area but not as much as recently....Bernie, Dooks and Fitzy gelled together and Kim is settling in nicely ( did the smurf custodian even move?)...enjoying Matt Sims efforts...and even Fast Eddie impressed before he got clattered twice in front of the ref for no joy....Bay 16 was outstanding as was the hardy folk in attendance who joined in on "who do we sing for" OH... and too that drooling dork dressed like a smurf trying to sneak into the bay to cause ruckus..did you think you were in stealth mode you twonk....and finally, Sydneys Italian diving champion tried his fkn damndest and he had some help from that idiotic moron cretin ref....BUT...WE GOT 2 AND THEY GOT 1 DOO FKN DAH.....

that guy dressed up like a smurf got kicked out bay 16 2 times by the

 

[Jaundice]

Good win well done to the boys but like magpie I wasnt overly impressed. Better sides have shut us down easily with their pressing, Sydney gave us more time on the ball and seemingly waiting for us to fek it up. They also werent much chop with the ball themselves.

 

[nebakke]

For mine, I think there were a couple of things to stoke a little excitement... The first of them was that confidence seemed to grow as we went. The boys had a pretty shocking spell of dropping back to where they have been for a while, after the first goal. But once they actually picked themselves up again, it started looking a lot better... Definitely, Sydney were far from great on the ball, but that's not really the point for me because... Looking at it, there was a LOT more stealing of the ball and active engagement than there has been in at least a month... Realistically probably all season... A bit of it happened at the beginning of the Roar game as well, but they decided against in the end, it for some reason So even though Sydney stuffed up plenty of passes, our boys actually did a decent job as well, of pressing back and stealing the ball.
The second bit was that the passes and understanding worked a lot better, especially with Bernie, Dukie, Fitz and Dukie on the pitch, our front half actually started to look like a unit for the first time in... Well... This season i think once again.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that this is the best we've played all season, but it's close to the most cohesive we've looked this season I think... I'm hoping that it's more than just a fluke, obviously. Oh and it also started to look like they're getting an understanding of what Kim can do and how he thinks, which was a huge positive too.
And then there's Seip... I actually thought he'd looked OK in the past, as a full-back... Not great, but acceptable if he had to be there. Looking at the last couple of games, he seems to do a little better when he's allowed to move forward sometimes as well... Other than to try to head it in off a corner

A couple more positives, but I've done enough typing for now

 

[Roy Law]

Someone suggested Sterjovski might be Croatian for Passenger.

Sterjovski, just quietly_
perfect cross to Rose for the headed chance;
perfect pass to Duke for the winning goal;
perfect pass for Fitzgerald's last minute miss

It was a Pondeljak type performance

 

[Wombat]

that guy dressed up like a smurf got kicked out bay 16 2 times by the

The bloke looked like a complete retard but his Jammies looked nice when he came back in the second half.

The funniest think was watching some bloke in a Manyoo top that was off his chops trying to find his ticket to get into the ground 1 min before kick off. He was so drunk he couldn't speak and was just holding his wallet out in front of him to the bemused bag checkers. They when he tried to speak he spewed everywhere. Then he was trying to say I'm ok with spew still all over his face.
Not surprising they told him to piss off your too intoxicated.
Typical Scum fan.

 

[Wombat]

Sterjovski, just quietly_
perfect cross to Rose for the headed chance;
perfect pass to Duke for the winning goal;
perfect pass for Fitzgerald's last minute miss

It was a Pondeljak type performance

Yeah decent game.
Showed some of the old quality.
Still prefer ibini or fitz in his spot.