WITH less than 15 minutes to go in Saturday night’s NSW National Premier Leagues 3 clash against Gladesville Ryde Magic FC the Western NSW Mariners FC were looking at coming away with a point.
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Instead, it was another heartbreaking moment for the men in yellow.
A Gladesville corner wound up with the Magic’s Lachlan Harte who perfectly placed his effort into the Mariners goal to give his side a 1-0 victory.
Mariners have now lost their last four NPL 3 matches.
“That’s the way the cookie crumbles,” Mariners captain Adam Scimone said.
“It was level pegging all match. It was like a tug-o-war out there. There weren’t many clear cut chances for either team, though we probably had more of the possession.”
The match was mostly fought out in the midfield of Proctor Park, with the defensive units of both sides doing a good job of snuffing out most opportunities.
“John Henry went into the midfield and I thought he had a dominant time there. It was a good test for both teams around the midfield,” Scimone said.
“It’s good not to concede as many goals as we have over our past couple of games.
“It was a bit of a physical game as well. There were a few yellow cards given out, and one of their players was sent off late in the game.”
The sending off of Gladesville’s Heo Wookbum with 10 minutes remaining wasn’t enough to help the Mariners get their way back into the match.
Mariners’ Dillon Bell, Nikki Spice, Duncan Logan and Milton Dellerba were all shown yellow cards.
Prior to the Magic’s goal Mariners had been increasing their numbers up front, with no breakthrough.
“We were throwing bodies forward but they just sat back, and then they got us on the set piece,” Scimone said.
Gladesville have continued their run as a bogey side for the Mariners.
The Magic have now won their past four matches against the Western men across both NPL3 and NSW State League.
Mariners currently sit second last on the NPL3 table on four points, kept off the bottom by the competition’s only remaining win-less side, Balmain Tigers FC.
In under 20s Mariners beat the Magic 2-1 while the Western 18s boys went down 3-1.
Mariners have also learnt the time for their Football Federation Australia (FFA) Cup game against NPL1 juggernauts Rockdale City Suns.
Proctor Park will play host to the match on Tuesday May 2 from 7.30pm.
