Central Coast Mariners fail to overcome ten man Sydney FC

Sydney FC have held on to a 1-1 draw with the Central Coast Mariners at a cold and wet Sydney Football Stadium tonight.

The Sky Blues were reduced to ten men with about 20 minutes to go when goalkeeper Liam Reddy was sent off when the score was 1-0 but the Mariners netted the ensuing penalty through Patricio Perez to grab a share of the points.

A-League Round 4
Sydney FC: 1 (Rhyan Grant 47’)
Central Coast Mariners: 1 (Patricio Perez (p) 73’)

Venue: Sydney Football Stadium
Crowd: approx. 7,000
Referee: Matthew Breeze
Yellow cards: SYD - Stuart Musialik 76’, Scott Jamieson 77’, Mark Bridge 78’
CCM - Josh Rose 64’, John Hutchinson 90+3’
Red card: SYD - Liam Reddy 71’

Sydney were dominating proceedings in the opening half-hour with plenty more possession on the ball and all the shots on goal in a match which was riddled with errors.

It wasn’t the usual fire and brimstones that this fixture historically creates but it did get interesting when Sydney’s Nick Carle squared it up for Seb Ryall whose shot from outside the area thundered into the upright after beating Mariners debutant Matthew Ryan in goal.

Central Coast were able to hold out the reigning champs for the first 45 minutes but almost immediately after the re-start of play, the Sky Blues hit the front.

GOAL Young midfielder Rhyan Grant, who replaced captain Terry McFlynn, was on hand to tap home in the 47th minute to give his side the lead.

The Mariners had not forced Sydney keeper Liam Reddy into a save by the 71st minute but they got their chance to level the game when Reddy brought down Mariners substitute Patricio Perez on the last line. Referee Matthew Breeze awarded a penalty and sent Reddy off for the incident which forced Sydney boss Vitezslav Lavicka to bring Kofi Danning off for back-up keeper Ivan Necevski.

GOAL Argentine import Perez stepped up to the spot and slammed it to the right of Necevski to equalise and endear himself immediately to the Mariners fans.

The visitors were pushing hard for a winner after getting right back into the match during the second half but their desire for three points was thwarted by the Sky Blues who held on with ten men to record a point at home.

Starting Line-Ups

SYD
Liam Reddy (gk), Seb Ryall, Stephan Keller, Stuart Musialik, Nick Carle, Kofi Danning (Necevski 71’), Shannon Cole, Mark Bridge, Scott Jamieson (Moriyasu 90’), Byun Sung-hwan, Rhyan Grant

Subs - Ivan Necevski (gk) (71’), Hayden Foxe, Terry Antonis, Hiro Moriyasu (90’)

CCM
Matthew Ryan (gk), Daniel McBreen (Kwasnik 69’), Josh Rose, Pedj Bojic, PatrickZwaanswijk, John Hutchinson, Rostyn Griffiths (Perez 53’), Oliver Bozanic, Michael McGlinchey, Alex Wilkinson, Matt Simon

Subs - Paul Henderson (gk), Patricio Perez (53’), Chris Doig, Adam Kwasnik (69’)