Melbourne City boss John van ‘t Schip was disappointed with his side’s second half showing saying they “lost control” as they were forced to leave Gosford with a draw against Central Coast Mariners on NYE.
In front of almost 12,000 fans, City dominated the first half and led 1-0 at the break thanks to another trademark headed goal from Tim Cahill.
But they weren’t able to sustain the same level after the break, falling 2-1 behind before salvaging a draw thanks to a final minute penalty converted by Bruno Fornaroli.
Mariners, City in NYE spectacle in Gosford
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While pleased with the way his side fought back at the death, van ‘t Schip lamented a poor second 45 from his troops.
“I was very disappointed of course about that ending. Not that we [scored] the equaliser because that I think was something we were looking for after we came 2-1 behind, but it was not what we were looking for,” the City boss said.
“I think first half we were OK and we went 1-0 up with a great goal; a good passage of play and I think a fantastic goal and Timmy [Cahill] coming there at the right time.
“The second half the way we started we just lost control. They won every ball, we couldn’t keep the ball, they had more passes.
“…To be honest we didn’t deserve to win today.”
The result leaves City in fourth spot heading into 2017 and the second half of the season, a massive 13 points behind league-leaders Sydney FC.
For a club with the ambition and expectation to win the Championship in the 2016/17 Season, van ‘t Schip concedes it’s not good enough.
“We’re happy about the win in the [Westfield] FFA Cup [Final] but that’s gone,” he said.
“It’s part of the season but it’s looking now at what we have achieved in the last games it’s not what we’re happy about.
“We’ve dropped too many points. We’ve had four draws and a loss and we went up in almost all those games leading 1-0 except the Brisbane game. It’s not consistent and just not good enough.”
Asked about the health of midfielder Luke Brattan, who was involved in a heavy head clash, van ‘t Schip said: “He was OK, because he continued.
“If he was not OK we would have taken him off and they decided he could continue and Lukey himself said he was OK, so that’s why he stayed on.”
