Wanderers unable to win in new year

In what was supposed to be an exciting start to the new year, the Wanderers' dire match against the Central Coast Mariners proved to continue their inability to win games, punching out a 0-0 draw.

The Wanderers began the game highly energised, dictating the flow and pace of the entire match.

Wanderer Nikita Rukavytsya opened up the match with a great opportunity to chip the ball into the net but was blocked by the body of Central Coast keeper Liam Reddy which forced him to send the ball over the top of the net.

Iacopo La Rocca managed to drag down Mariner Matt Simon which resulted in a free kick that Eddy Bosnar shot straight into the wall.

Despite Rukavytsya continuously breaking through the Mariners defence, nothing eventuated for the red and black, who pursued an energetic but creatively-boring game.

The greatest opportunity for the Wanderers in the first half came from an assist by Rukavytsya to Wanderers debutant Nick Kalmar who could have scored the first goal of the match if he wasn't completely knocked over by the Central Coast's wall of defence.

Ante Covic miraculously maintained a clean sheet in the closing minutes of the first half after three repetitive shots by the Mariners, settling the score at 0-0 at half-time.

The Wanderers continued with the attacking stanza in the second half with Labinot Haliti heading the ball away from the net and Mateo Poljak shooting the ball over the top of the net.

A long-distance and powerful shot by Antony Golec could have been a spectacular goal if it wasn’t sent wide. The later half of the game saw the players on both sides becoming increasingly frustrated with the inability to convert chances into goals.

Mitchell Duke could have presented the answer to the Mariners' wishes in the 84th minute but shot from the centre of the box to a far and distant land.

Rukavystya similarly embarked on a brilliant run that ended with him being pulled down by John Hutchinson. The final moments of the game saw the last bursts of energy by the Wanderers with Mark Bridge sending the ball just a touch wide which concluded the tiresome game at 0-0.

With the Wanderers continuing to make history on the other side of the spectrum, there are certainly hopes that they can break this stalemate in their next match against the Melbourne Victory.



Western Sydney Wanderers squad: Nikolai TOPOR-STANLEY (C), Shannon COLE, Iacopo LA ROCCA, Antony GOLEC, Yianni PERKATIS (77” Jason TRIFIRO), Mateo POLJAK, Nick KALMAR (66” Jaushua SOTIRIO), Mark BRIDGE, Nikita RUKAVYTSYA, Labinot HALITI (86” Michael TRAJKOVSKI) and Ante COVIC.

Unused substitutes: Dean BOUZANIS and Daniel ALESSI.


Central Coast Mariners squad: John HUTCHINSON (C), Joshua ROSE, Jacob POSCOLIERO, Zachary ANDERSON, Mitchell DUKE, Anthony CACERES, Nick FITZGERALD (83” Isaka CERNAK), Liam ROSE, Matthew SIM (66” Glen TRIFIRO), Eddy BOSNAR and Liam REDDY (GK).

Unused substitutes: Matthew Nash, Storm ROUX and Richard VERNES.