Hatch scores with first A-League touch as Mariners beat Bulls to go seven points clear

Young and old combined to devastating effect as goals to a club veteran and A-League debutant helped Central Coast Mariners seal a 2-0 win over second-placed Macarthur FC at Central Coast Stadium on Monday night.

20-year-old Matt Hatch scored with his first A-League touch to seal the points for the Mariners late in the show, after veteran Matt Simon opened the scoring in the first half to send the Gosford side seven points clear of the second-placed Bulls.

The Mariners donned predominantly pink kits in the ninth instalment of the club’s annual Pink Round – an initiative which has previously raised more than $100,000 for Cancer Council NSW.

The game couldn’t have started any better for the hosts, who went ahead after nine minutes when Simon netted his fifth goal in six A-League games, linking up with Marco Ureña in the build up to the deflected strike.

Macarthur proceeded to take control of the contest, creating chances to Tommy Oar, Lachlan Rose and Aleksandar Šušnjar in a dominant spell before the Mariners surged late in the first half, twice threatening to pull two goals ahead from a long-range Stefan Nigro strike and a dangerous ball across goal from Jordan Nisbet which the Bulls defence managed to repel from danger.

The chances began to pile up in the second half as both sides launched dangerous attacks in an open game. Goal-mouth scrambles ensued down either end as Mark Birighitti and Adam Federici displayed desperation between the sticks to brave committed challenges flying in from all angles and snuff out the danger as the score stayed at 1-0 beyond the hour mark.

With less than ten minutes to play, Alen Stajcic invited Hatch into the contest for his A-League debut, and the Mariners man continued the trend of young players making a phenomenal impact in the 2020/21 season.

The 20-year-old scored with his first touch in the league to send the home side two goals ahead and the local fans into dreamland, as the league-leaders pulled seven points clear at the top of the table.

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Key Moments

Both the Mariners and Macarthur received early opportunities to take the lead, of which neither were taken.

Daniel De Silva’s dribbling run along the byline from a corner routine left Markel Susaeta for dead and presented Stefan Nigro with the chance to score from the cutback toward the penalty spot.

Nigro’s shot soared over the bar, allowing Macarthur to get down the other end and create a chance from a Rose cross which found Oar at the back post, but his volleyed attempt off the bouncing delivery was safely snuffed out by Birighitti.

Simon entered the contest with four goals from five games and within ten minutes against the Bulls the Mariners spearhead had his fifth. Ureña charged through midfield, played a one-two with Simon, then added a third link to the passing chain when he played a sliding pass into the box to his strike partner.

Simon shot toward the bottom-left corner, and in an attempt to block out the danger James Meredith’s sliding challenge incidentally diverted the strike over Federici as the ball dropped into the net.

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Goalscorer Simon collected Beñat Etxebarria with a lunging challenge in midfield which sparked a pair of similarly committed challenges on the Mariners’ goalscorer, which ultimately led to a Šušnjar yellow card midway through the first half.

After Rose set up Oar for an early Macarthur chance the roles were revered when the latter attempted to find the former with a whipped cross off the left flank, but Birighitti was once again up to the task of keeping the ball away from danger.

The Bulls proceeded to get on top of the hosts; A Šušnjar air-swing in the box called Birighitti into a save which he fumbled before collecting, then a wayward Beñat strike trickled to the feet of Jake McGing whose shot was collected by the Mariners ‘keeper, as the visitors displayed everything but the finishing touch in a dominant 20-minute spell.

Macarthur were almost made to pay in the dying embers of the first half as the Mariners pushed late. Nigro went close with a shot from outside the box, driving the ball low toward Federici’s left-hand goalpost, narrowly missing the target.

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The Bulls squandered the opportunity to restore parity early in the second half in a manic scramble sparked from a deep free-kick to the back post which Šušnjar volleyed unmarked into Matt Derbyshire’s path in the six-yard box.

Birighitti was down bravely to collect but the Bulls striker made a committed challenge which caused a spillage; Kye Rowles cleared the ball off the line in the aftermath as the chance went begging for Macarthur to draw level.

https://players.brightcove.net/5519514571001/default_default/index.html?videoId=6237883062001

Simon benefited from a one-two-three with Ureña for the opening goal and a similar combination with De Silva led the goalscorer onto another opportunity which Federici tipped off the post.

Daniel Bouman and Ureña went to pounce on the ball trickling across the goal-line but Federici sprawled back to collect the ball and wrench it into his grasp, bravely preventing his side from conceding a second.

But with less than ten minutes on the clock the Mariners finally managed to double their lead, through the unlikely source of substitute Hatch, who netted with his first touch in his first A-League appearance.

The 20-year-old benefited from Michał Janota’s win in midfield, dispossessing Beñat and playing Alou Kuol into the box. Kuol spotted Hatch’s run and cut the ball into his path, leaving the debutant to slide the ball past Federici to spark pandemonium in the stands at Central Coast Stadium

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