Round 9 - CCM v Perth @ Gosford (Sun 5pm)

[Forum Phoenix]

Perth played very away style football. When we had the ball they packed into their final third and shut us out and hoped to catch us on the break. We played most of the game with three at the back with very little stress but it did not make for an attractive game. However we held the ball and chipped away.
Keeping possession in these situations is important especially on a hot day and pays off in the end. No panic, great defence even with fewer numbers back there.
Paolo worked out their game and countered it.
Second half they played a compact defence higher up the field this allowed the odd through ball and satisfied some of the supporters in the prawn sandwich brigade who were moaning every time we played back and recycled. I guess they were brought up in the old country, hoof it long and chase.
It was not that our side was flat it was that sort of game.
It is important to win ugly sometimes. Ask Sydney they do it often.
If Perth had all their stars it would have been a different game, much more open and we still would have beaten them. Probably 4-2.
I am loving where we are and how we are playing.

I will now put the malt away and go to bed.

Great post Ancient. Lot of truth in that post. Love it.

 

[Forum Phoenix]

Yellow Cards CCM 4 Fouls 8 Yellow Cards Perth 1 Fouls 13
Doesn't statistically look good.
KGJ has judged that 50% of our fouls are worthy of a yellow card, yet only 7.75% of Perth fouls were a yellow card??
Really weird

Yep was abysmal.

 

[LFCMariners]

PRO'S:

- The Y.A did a great job considering lower numbers in the bay. There was rarely a quiet minute all game, and it was audible from the highlights I saw earlier.

- Not the most attractive game (more on that in a moment) but managed to come away with the 3 points in a type of fixture where not too long ago we'd have drawn or even lost to a team clearly not as good

- Second highest crowd of the round. Still notably less than the golden era 9 or 10 years back- but relatively speaking it was a positive to get such a figure against a team who traditionally bring the bare minimum in away numbers.

CON'S:

- There were times where the CCM backline resembled the legendary Portugal v Mexico game in Springfield. It was a hot afternoon and I'm guessing the tactics were to make Perth tire quicker without the ball- but it translated into the finishing touches as well. Many times we had the front line guilty of trying to walk the ball into the net rather than going for a medium-risk strike that could've sealed the game before the 78th minute. The way Perth looked, it only would've taken one CCM goal to break them. They were heavy on in the mid-field and appeared to be playing for a scoreless draw and a point. We were fortunate today, but in another game they could've arsed a counter goal.

- The officiating. Perth player (not sure who) looked to touch the ball in the box and should've been a CCM penalty but got waved away- then there was the hack-job the Glory did that went largely unpunished.

All up, a game that won't be remembered for long- but it was back to back wins for the Mariners in beautiful summer weather and 4th on the ladder after the other results. A pleasant end to the week!

 

[Big Al]

Yellow Cards CCM 4 Fouls 8 Yellow Cards Perth 1 Fouls 13
Doesn't statistically look good.
KGJ has judged that 50% of our fouls are worthy of a yellow card, yet only 7.75% of Perth fouls were a yellow card??
Really weird

A couple have had a little dig at the ref but I thought he was good. All our yellow cards were clear infringements. We went the make it count and stop the play route.
I barely noticed the ref except for Kenny having a moan to the complaints department (fourth official)

 

[tim...]

i felt the crowd was a little disappointing in size, especially with the family tickets.
Good to see them get a win up...the pass for that goal was sublime

I initially thought this when I saw 8k but if you consider with the original timeslot they were expecting 5, maybe 6k at a push then I feel it came out fairly well in the end. Especially on a warm evening.

 

[tim...]

- The officiating. Perth player (not sure who) looked to touch the ball in the box and should've been a CCM penalty but got waved away- then there was the hack-job the Glory did that went largely unpunished.

I thought this instinctually, but having the benefit of replay, the Perth players' arms didn't move from his sides at all, clear non-pen for mine. Having said that, how the hack-job up the other end you refer to didn't result in a Perth yellow is beyond me.

 

[style_cafe]

It`s great to be a Mariner`s fan!!
A thoroughly well deserved win, at home, in front of a decent crowd.
The first half was an arm wrestle with our boys clearly dominating passion & running Perth around.
That`s where Okonball can really damage sides.
I was watching Nichol`s a lot at he was trying to pressure our back four. !0mins before halftime he was knackered & swapped from the east side to the west to get in the shade.
A big call out to Rowles who had a great first half. He`s a very intelligent footballer who will thrive at the Mariners.
I was also impressed with Golec. He gets stronger with each game & his accurate switching of the ball reminds me so much of the Dutchy.

And Danny De Silva! What a player! Okon said he was special & if you didn`t believe him before this game you`d have to believe him now.
That was some goal & such a wonderful run by him. The kid is a genius!

Also, a great atmosphere at the ground.
The band was great, the Yellow Army was loud & the people are finally starting to really get into it.
I can`t wait until our next home game

 

[Capn Gus Bloodbeard]

I initially thought this when I saw 8k but if you consider with the original timeslot they were expecting 5, maybe 6k at a push then I feel it came out fairly well in the end. Especially on a warm evening.

Apparently it was the 2nd highest crowd of the weekend. in that case i'll correct my statement and we should be pretty happy with that.
Of course the issue is that 8k shouldn't be the 2nd highest crowd in a weekend....but looks like the family day may have paid off.

Great to win at home!!!

 

[BrisRecky]

Well Fark moi , how longs it been since back to back wins ❓, don’t matter, as long as it happened, first half was , stat wise, excellent for us, now, methinks if Powelly and Astro boy were teamed together up front instead of kwabi charging around with a ton of desire but no goal magnet, we would of had a at least one going into the break, how good has Ginga become❓Him and Hooley have linked together quite nicely, Stormy has got a job getting his spot back , and as for Kye, if his leg ain’t too damaged, he should hold his spot over Rose the Elder.....back to the game, the second half we backed off a tad until Powelly came on , and we all saw what happened after that.....quick VAR ( Very Awful Rubbish) question, do you think that the twats looking at the screens are controlling the game, cause, Fark moi , some decisions take an age or they don’t occur at all...either way CGJ hasnt chaged one iota, his still a pedantic phukker.....
Kenny Lowe was going Birko , didn’t help him any, and Mitch Nichols is twice the man he used to be, what’s happened to him , Fark moi
Manchester City South next week, and since they didn’t deserve to win, we may very well scare the bejeesus out of them

 

[MrCelery]

Vote:

https://www.a-league.com.au/news/hyundai-a-league-goal-round-contenders-round-9

 

[Wombat]

Vote:

https://www.a-league.com.au/news/hyundai-a-league-goal-round-contenders-round-9

Done. Ohhhhh Danny DeSilva.

 

[Forum Phoenix]

Yeah voted earlier as well.

Also in the team of the week stuff.. they had four strikers? That’s not a team.

I thought Hoole should have been in the team of the week as well. He was excellent barring that one lay off he should have made to Tom.

 

[pjennings]

A couple have had a little dig at the ref but I thought he was good. All our yellow cards were clear infringements. We went the make it count and stop the play route.
I barely noticed the ref except for Kenny having a moan to the complaints department (fourth official)

Perth had a couple like that as well - no yellow.

 

[Wombat]

The Ref needs to go to Thailand for a boob reduction. How can he concentrate when he is in danger of a couple of black eyes every time he runs?

 

[pjennings]

i felt the crowd was a little disappointing in size, especially with the family tickets.
Good to see them get a win up...the pass for that goal was sublime

That disappointing crowd everyone was only 100 less than the top drawing crowd of the weekend and nearly 3000 more than the corresponding fixture last year. We have had 5 home games this season. Only one was expected to get more than 10,000 and it did - that was the one with a family friendly, commuter friendly timeslot. Barring 'east coast low' type weather the remaining 8 home games should include 6 crowds above 10,000 and only crowds less than 10,000.

CCM have a 5 year strategic plan that has quite ambitious targets for both members and attendance. At the moment it looks like membership will be up around 21% this season and crowds are tracking towards a 30% increase. Pity the rest of the HAL isn't doing the same.

 

[Ancient Mariner]

Just watched the replay of the game.
The only new thing not already commented on that I noticed was how comfortable Golec looked as a left back.
Another one who is improving with every game.

 

[nebakke]

Just watched the replay of the game.
The only new thing not already commented on that I noticed was how comfortable Golec looked as a left back.
Another one who is improving with every game.

I'm more excited about Golec than I probably should be, but I reallly didn't have high expectations, courtesy of his journeyman history... But the fire displayed towards the end of the game against the smurfs, his general performance, and certainly his ability to put those long legs to use to take out balls from defenders who got away, excites me I think he's turned out to be an excellent signing, especially if he can keep it up.

 

[Capt. Awesome]

Just watched the replay of the game.
The only new thing not already commented on that I noticed was how comfortable Golec looked as a left back.
Another one who is improving with every game.

When he was at WSW he played mostly as a left back hence why he comfortable playing there. I'm pretty impressed with him as well. I too was sceptical of his signing. Don't see him making many errors and sometimes has a killa pass.

 

[Coastalraider]

I had concerns about Golec and McGing in the backline.

Both are proving exceptional value for money right now.

 

[Woollybutt]

I was torn when Golec signed. I was excited to finally have a big, tough defender who could actually defend crosses and stop us from being monstered by the Matt Simons of the league, but I wasn't convinced on his character because of the whole homophobic tweeting thing. I'm completely sold now though. He seems to be getting better on the pitch every week, and he and Baro complement each other well. And the story from the supporters club about his shirt on Sunday has confirmed that he is a genuinely good guy. I'd be tempted to offer him a contract extension now before the rest of the league starts noticing how well he's going.