A bit late but I had to post it anyway.
When it comes to football, we all have different opinions. I believe, this could be due to levels of experience that each individual has with the game wether as an active, ex player or long time passionate spectator. Not everyone watches or analyses a football game in the same manner. This can be reflected in different situations. For example; when talking to someone that has just watched the same game you did, you’ll note that there are always different views when it comes to “the whys”, “the who’s” and “the how’s” of the game. In this particular case (CCM V PG NYL), the match reports of Ray Sandell of Back of the Net and Hamish Neal of NYL, show a lot of coincidence in their summary of the game but are not the exception to the theory.
Although I respect and agree with most of both match reports, Ray’s one relates a lot more to how I saw it. Both reporters give only an overview of what happened in the 90 mins of play. Most of their reports are focused on match highlights only ( goals and scorers).
HN wrote: “The Glory flew out of the gates, belying their seventh spot on the table, exerting early pressure as Zahra caused problem on the left side of the Central Coast defense “.
RS : “The home team were shocked at the initial onslaught shown by Perth who were positioned seventh on the table. Perth were faster, more direct and were completely outplaying the Mariners, and it took them just under five minutes to open the scoring with a goal from Slobodan Vulin, following great work from Adrian Zahra”.
I agree but our defensive work made PG and Adrian look better than what they really were. During this 10 mins period of the first half and in some instances of the 2nd half whenever PG attacked, our defence ( the back 4 ) always looked hesitant and vulnerable.
HN : “John McLafferty's side awoke from their early slumber to pour on the pressure from the 15th-minute mark with their first good chance on goal coming via Daniel Bragg, who shot wide. Following that attempt was a period of sustained pressure all the way to the interval as the Mariners dominated possession but failed to gain a breakthrough. Bragg had multiple attempts on goal and McDonald, along with Nick Fitzgerald, troubled Perth's goal. Glory shot-stopper Jordan Franken was kept busy and had to pull out a top draw save to keep out Anthony Caceres' rifled shot on 25 minutes. Such was the Mariners' dominance the visitors only had a single good chance three minutes before half-time following a half-hour of solid defending.
RS : “Mariners slowly worked themselves into the game and made a number of scoring opportunities, but poor finishing from Daniel Bragg and Brad McDonald, and some resolute goalkeeping from Jordan Franken, resulted in no more goals at half time”.
Yes, that’s all it took for the mariners to take control of the actions, 10 mins to be exact. Why? Nickola Stanojevic and Anthony Caceres decided to drop back deeper into defence and possession changed sides. Caceres was more on the ball, he started to dictate play, the possession and distribution improved and PG was dominated. The first half should easily have ended 3 or 4-1 in favour of the mariners if it wasn’t for our bad defending earlier, the incredible saves by the PG keeper and the chances missed by the mariner attackers.
HN : The quality of Adrian Zahra was on display as the 22-year-old winger led Perth Glory to an unexpected 3-1 win over Central Coast Mariners in round 16 of the National Youth League played in Tuggerah on Saturday. Zahra scored a goal and had a hand in another as Perth Glory bounced back from a 7-0 thumping at the hands of Melbourne Victory to register the win. The former Melbourne Heart man chipped replacement goalkeeper Daniel Sadaka in the second half after he had laid on the final pass for Slobodan Vulin to open the scoring in the first.
RS : It was eleven minutes before the Mariners could muster an attack on the Perth goal. Perth still had most of the play however, with Zahra and Jacob Collard causing all sorts of trouble for the Mariner's defence.
I rate Adrian and I agree that with his pace on the wing he did cause headaches to our sleepy defenders and probably he was their most valuable player. Now, in PG’s 2nd goal by Adrian did not chipped the keeper. It was a misskick, the ball came off his ankle and to his fortune it went over the keeper. Himself and team mates were laughing about how fortunate he had been( I know. Still counts).
Both reports praise Adrian Zahra but they fail to highlight Anthony Caceres’s great performance. In the 2nd half Adrian was moved to the midfield and Caceres just bullied him. There was not much Adrian could do against a superior player. It was Caceres +10 against PG. If anyone from this forum was at the game they would agree with what I’m saying.( Can’t understand why GA didn’t use Caceres against the nix to give him HAL experience.Come on Arnie!! give the kid the chance v PG ).
I still believe our NYL team are having a great season despite the unexpected loss to PG but believe me : The score did not reflect the action on the field.