A hat-trick from exciting teenage prospect Tomas Rogic has helped the Central Coast Mariners to a crushing 4-1 win over the Newcastle Jets in their National Youth League match at Adamstown Oval on Friday afternoon.
A hat-trick from exciting teenage prospect Tomas Rogic has helped Central Coast Mariners to a crushing 4-1 win over Newcastle Jets in their National Youth League match at Adamstown Oval.
The Jets grabbed an early lead via forward Andrew Hoole but from that point on it was all Mariners as Rogic ran riot up front in a impressive performance that saw him snare a first-half brace for a 2-1 lead at half-time.
Mariners substitute Kwabena Appiah-Kubi added a third with virtually his first touch of the ball before Rogic got his third from the penalty spot.
The win propels the Mariners into second spot on the NYL ladder on 19 points, while the Jets remain in sixth spot on 14 points with the rest of the round to play.
The visitors almost got the perfect opening when Mitchell Duke pounced on an errant back pass from Jets defender David Vrankovic. The Mariners striker fired a shot from inside the penalty area but Newcastle goalkeeper Jack Duncan swallowed up the shot.
The Jets opened the scoring with their first attacking raid in the fifth minute of play.
Striker Andrew Hoole accepted a through ball on the edge of the area before weaving between the Mariners defence and firing a low shot into far corner of the net.
The Mariners came back into the match creating a number of half-chances with Anthony Caceres and Justin Hayward having shots from inside the box, while Rogic saw his header from a Nikolai Stanjevic free-kick well saved by Duncan.
The visitor-s pressure told when they hit back just before the half-hour mark when Justin Hayward broke into space down the left wing. He took the ball inside the penalty area before squaring the ball to Rogic who slotted home from 10 yards out to make it 1-1.
The Mariners continued to apply the pressure and they went close again when Hayward hit the side netting in the 35th minute before Duke spurned a golden opportunity when played in by Rogic but he slide his shot agonisingly wide of the far post.
Jets striker Chris Payne had a rare chance for the home side in the 41st minute when he got in behind the Mariners defence from a long ball but he fired his shot over the crossbar.
Central Coast took the lead right on the stroke of half-time when Rogic picked up his second goal. The big striker took the ball on the edge of the area before using his size to bully his way past Vrankovic before calmly slotting the inside the far post to make it 2-1 at the break.
The Jets looked to hit back early in the second half when Payne showed good strength to push his way into the penalty area. He curled a nice right-footed shot past Mariners goalkeeper Justin Pasfield but the ball skimmed off the far post.
Both sides made a number of changes around the hour mark. The Jets brought on James Virgili, Kyle Ewart and Dino Fajkovic for David Talevski, Nick Cowburn and Blake Green respectively while the Mariners replaced Hayward, Caceras and Stanojevic with Kwabena Appiah-Kubi, Adam Jenner and Josh De Silva.
It was Appiah-Kubi who made the biggest impact. He scored the Mariners third with almost his first touch and was a constant threat with his pace up front. The lean striker pounced on the ball to slot home in the 64th minute after a goal-mouth scramble for a 3-1 lead.
Appiah-Kubi then earned a penalty after being tripped from behind on a fast break. This allowed Rogic to grab his hat-trick as he slammed the ball past Duncan to make it 4-1 in the 74th minute.
Appiah-Kubi almost grabbed his second in the 82nd minute when he outpaced the Jets defence and fired a vicious volley that produced a fine diving save from Duncan to keep the final score somewhat respectable.
Newcastle Jets 1
Hoole 5-
Central Coast Mariners 4
Rogic 28-, 45-, 74pen-, Appiah-Kubi 64-
at Adamstown Oval
