Central Coast coach Mark Jackson got the response he wanted after giving his side a public spray, as they fought back to earn a 1-1 home draw with Melbourne City in Gosford.
Two-time A-League Men's competition-winning coach Jackson said after last Saturday’s 4-1 home loss to Auckland some of his players had not prepared properly and were missing from the team after an internal disciplinary matter.
The Mariners were lacklustre in the first half of Tuesday’s game at Industree Group Stadium but rallied from a half-time deficit in front of over 11,000 spectators.
It was the proverbial game of two halves with City bossing the first and the Mariners most of the second, before the visitors lifted near the end.
City had all four first-half attempts, but the Mariners had the first five of the second period, with the last delivering the equaliser.
City went ahead in the 33rd minute through French defender Samuel Souprayen, who produced a strong header from near the penalty spot from a perfectly delivered free kick from Israel international Yonatan Cohen.
It was Souprayen’s first of the season and City’s first setpiece goal of their campaign, but for the third straight game they dropped points after scoring the opening goal.
The hosts equalised in similar fashion in the 68th minute when central defender Nathan Paull scored his maiden ALM goal by heading in a Mikael Doka free kick.
“It was a good point for us tonight, a good second-half performance from the players and a response from the other day for us,” Jackson told Paramount Plus.
The point lifted City above Western United into fifth and put them level on points with fourth-placed Macarthur, who have played an extra match.
Winless in three games before the clash at Industree Group Stadium, the Mariners remained 10th on the ladder with five straight away games looming in January.
The Mariners couldn’t muster a single shot in the first half and City for all their possession were only marginally more threatening.
Mariners showed more attacking intent with the second half introductions of Christian Theoharous and Will Wilson.
Central Coast’s first shot didn’t come until the 55th minute, but within seconds City goalkeeper Patrick Beach saved efforts from Doka and Wilson.
“We knew we had to come out and be a little more aggressive in the second half and I thought we did that,” Jackson said.
“The impact of the subs in the second half helped that impetus and put us on the front foot a little bit and I thought we deserved a point in the end.”
City threatened in the 80th minute but Mariners substitute Diesel Herrington headed off the line from another set piece.
City coach Aurelio Vidmar also thought a draw was a fair result.
“The first half was pretty good and we had a patch in that second half of 15 to 20 minutes where we lost our way, we weren’t aggressive enough, we were late on the press,” Vidmar told Paramount Plus.
City suffered another addition to their growing injury list with Cohen limping off the field with a suspected MCL knee issue in the 40th minute.
“It’s just a wretched run of bad luck with those contact injuries, I’ve never seen it in my life, there’s so many,” Vidmar added.
