Central Coast Mariners have their first point on the board in the 2024-25 AFC Asian Champions League Elite, thanks to teenage striker Bailey Brandtman’s stoppage-time goal in a 2-2 comeback draw against Shanghai Shenhua at Industree Group Stadium.
The Mariners trailed 2-0 after second-half goals scored by André Luis and Yu Hanchao but Central Coast head coach Mark Jackson turned the game on its head with his substitutions; Sabit Ngor and Brandtman came off the bench to score the two goals in a dramatic comeback sealed by the latter’s 95th-minute leveller in Gosford.
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After three consecutive losses to begin the ACL Elite campaign, this was an important result for Jackson and the Mariners who have also experienced a sluggish start to the 2024-25 Isuzu UTE A-League season, with three draws.
But staring down a fourth-consecutive defeat in Asia, the Mariners dug deep to earn a point in a game that looked lost after 75 minutes. This was a game against a powerhouse Shenhua outfit who are competing at the top of the ACL Elite Eastern league, a team who last week were pipped to the CSL title by just one point by Kevin Muscat’s Shanghai Port.
The Mariners have just one point on the board after four games in the ACL Elite – but there’s still hope for Mark Jackson’s side at the midway point of the league stage.
Featured image credit: 2024 Asian Football Confederation (AFC)
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After the 2-2 draw, Mariners head coach Jackson expressed the pride he felt whilst witnessing his young squad turn the game around; 19-year-old Brandtman and 23-year-old Ngor wrote the headlines but they certainly weren’t alone in impressing for the hosts.
Diesel Herrington (20) made his starting debut for the club in a backline featuring Sasha Kusevski, Lucas Mauragis (both 23) and Nathan Paull (21). Dylan Peraić-Cullen (18) started in goal, while 22-year-old Championship-winner Harry Steele played 90 minutes in midfield.
16-year-old Haine Eames came off the bench along with Ngor – who joined the club in the off-season after starring in NPL Victoria for Heidelberg – and teenage academy product Brandtman.
“I’m delighted for Bailey to get that goal,” Jackson said.
“I think all the subs made an impact tonight. Bailey’s just (one of) a number of young players who were out there on the pitch tonight shining.
“After one of the games recently, I said that we’ll blood young players at this football club. This season, we’ll blood young players in the A-League and the Champions League, and that will be a great opportunity and a platform for them to go on and shine.
“Some of them will. Hopefully, all of them will. But we certainly had a group on the pitch tonight, young players who’ve shone and made a statement. I’m really proud of them and I’ll be pushing, we’ll be pushing as a staff to continue that conveyor belt coming and create chances for these players to play.”
Just minutes after kick-off the visitors were forced into an early change when a heavy collision between Mariners defender Brian Kaltak and Xie Pengfei resulted in the former receiving a yellow card and the latter’s substitution. Xie Pengfei was left in a daze after the collision of heads and was replaced by Yu Hanchao in the Shanghai Shenhua midfield.
The Mariners enjoyed the best of the first-half chances and came close to opening the scoring when Kaltak crashed a header off the crossbar in the 22nd minute of play.
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Young fullback Sasha Kuzevski skied a shot over the crossbar after a cheap turnover of possession by the visitors on the edge of their defensive box.
Diesel Herrington – on his starting debut for the Mariners – also threatened to break the deadlock and might have done so from close range if not for a desperate piece of defensive work to prevent the 20-year-old latching onto a perfectly-weighted Mikael Doka free-kick.
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In first-half stoppage-time Ryan Edmondson called keeper Bao Yaxiong into action with a strong header off a corner whipped toward the six-yard box; the Englishman’s attempt had power and was on target but was directed straight at the Shanghai keeper for a routine save.
But with a packed bay of travelling support, Shanghai Shenhua began the second half brightly and just five minutes after the restart, found the opening goal through Luis who found the bottom-right corner from the edge of the box to delight the away fans in Gosford.
Fourteen minutes later it was 2-0 to the visitors as the Mariners conceded in near-identical fashion – but on the second occasion, it was Yu Hanchao who received possession on the edge of the area and was afforded too much time to turn and bend the ball past Dylan Peraić-Cullen into the bottom corner.
Shenhua held their two-goal advantage for 11 minutes but just when the Mariners had begun to look defeated, substitute Sabit Ngor provided a lifeline to the hosts with a well-taken goal off the bench to halve the deficit and bring Central Coast back into the game.
Ngor’s calmly-taken strike set the scene for the stoppage-time drama that sealed Central Coast a point.
Presented with a late corner, Nathan Paull won the first ball and Brandtman pounced to sweep his shot into the back of the net and earn an impressive point for the Mariners.
After watching his side come from two goals down to secure a point, Jackson said he would have labeled Tuesday night’s performance as the Mariners’ best in the competition whether they came back to draw or not.
“Really, really proud,” he said. “I know the last time we played against a team from Shanghai I said that after the game, that I was proud of the players, and I’m saying it again today. even more proud because I thought we played even better today.
“Really pleased with the first half and how we performed, we probably should’ve scored some goals with the chances we had, that’s what we’ve challenged the boys to do after Saturday’s game, to be more clinical in the final third. Disappointed with the two goals we conceded, lapses in concentration from us – but these things happen.
“But the fight and determination, the courage and impact from the bench as well, from the players, was fantastic tonight.
“I would’ve probably said that if we hadn’t got the point, because apart from the goals we conceded we controlled large parts of the game and when we didn’t have the ball, we still controlled with our shape and understanding.”
“We went for it,” Jackson added. “That’s what we had to do, and I think we showed that from minute one, from the start of the game that we wanted to go for the game, for the win, we tried to be on the front foot when we didn’t have the ball we controlled things well, and I thought we looked more dangerous in attacking situations that we have done previously – so that’s pleasing.
“I think it will give us a lot of positivity. The boys were positive anyway going into the game, I felt that. I said to them in the team talk I was the calmest I’ve probably felt this season and that’s always a good thing.
“We do like the nerves and the anticipation of the game, but I felt calm because the boys looked focused, they looked ready – even coming off the back of a tough game against Perth on the weekend. They looked physically strong, and we’re growing in that department now, the physicality of the team.
“I think that contributed to how we started the game, we went for the game and unfortunately, we couldn’t get the three points, but we dug in and got the point.”
Central Coast’s remaining ACL Elite Eastern league fixtures
- Vissel Kobe v Central Coast Mariners – Tuesday, November 26 2024 – Kobe City Misaki Park Stadium, Kobe (7pm local)
- Central Coast Mariners v Yokohama F.Marinos – Tuesday, December 3 2024, Industree Group Stadium, Gosford (7pm local)
- Central Coast Mariners v Johor Darul Ta’zim – Tuesday, February 11 2025, Industree Group Stadium, Gosford (7pm local)
- Kawasaki Frontale v Central Coast Mariners – Tuesday, February 18, 2025,Kawasaki Todoraki Stadium, Kawasaki (7pm local)
