“I thought our penalty really was soft, and I thought their penalty was really soft.”
Those were the post-match thoughts of Central Coast Mariners captain Danny Vukovic, as his side emerged with all three points in a 2-1 win against Brisbane Roar – a game defined by a pair of contentious penalty calls at Kayo Stadium.
Both the Mariners and the Roar had their respective moments to remonstrate with the referee on either side of half-time; the hosts were sent to the spot in the opening 45 after an incident involving Roar winger Carlo Armiento and Mariners forward Marco Tulio, with the former getting in front of the latter inside his attacking penalty area and going to ground under perceived contact from behind.
Jay O’Shea converted from the spot, cancelling out Tulio’s opener and bringing the Roar back on level terms.
The Mariners were incensed – but the roles were reversed in the second half when Scott Neville was deemed to have fouled Dan Hall while attempting to clear the ball away from danger. Referee Johnathan Barreiro once again put whistle to mouth to point to the spot, and Beni N’Kololo stepped forward to slot home the eventual winner for the visitors.
In the aftermath of Central Coast’s 2-1 win, Vukovic was joined by Roar captain Tom Aldred and the analysts in the Paramount+ studio to weigh in on both penalty decisions.
“I think referee decisions played a big role in the game – for both teams,” Vukovic said. “It’s not what we want to see as players.”
He added: “Yeah look, he’s human, but I thought our penalty was really soft, I thought their penalty was really soft, so I guess it evened out in the end. I think it just takes the sting out of the game, you have to wait five minutes for VAR to look at it.
“It’s a tough one. He’s got one chance to look at it, so it is what it is.”
Roar captain Aldred agreed with Vukovic’s assessment of the spot kick awarded to the Mariners, but his view of the first-half incident which sent O’Shea to the spot varied.
“I didn’t think that theirs was a penalty,” he told Paramount+. “I thought ours was and it was clumsy defending (from the Mariners)… the problem is now, when the referee has given a decision and they go to VAR, the likelihood of it being overturned is near-on never.
“Look, he made the decision, I think when he sees it back, it’s not a penalty. It kills the game, because I felt like the momentum was shifting to us. I didn’t think it was a penalty in the end. It kills the game.”
In the Paramount+ studios, Grace Gill and Daniel McBreen watched the two penalty decisions back:
On Tulio’s challenge
McBreen: “I think he was going down. I think he was waiting for contact and went down far too easily. In saying that, it’s given with the angle of the referee, or the assistant was at. VAR can’t overturn it because there was contact, and they can’t say it was a clear and obvious error.”
Gill: “Undoubtedly there’s contact. It’s a soft one, but I think it’s a pen. A soft pen.”
On Neville’s challenge
McBreen: “I think it’s pretty much the same argument as the first one: a player getting their body across, waiting for contact, feeling minimal contact and playing for it.
“I think both penalties were the same; I think there probably was some contact, but was there enough contact for them to go down? No. If that was in the middle of the park would the referee just have gone: ‘Get up, play on’? Probably.”
Gill: “I’m not convinced there was contact at all in the second one. Unless there was a whisker of contact, in which case Hall went down and felt that. It was a pretty fine line, I didn’t see it on any angle of replay.”
HEAR FROM THE COACHES
Brisbane Roar boss Warren Moon and Central Coast head coach Nick Montgomery reflect on a 2-1 win to the Mariners.
Warren Moon
Nick Montgomery
KEEPUP followed along LIVE to bring you all the goals, highlights, up to date scores and biggest talking points from Central Coast’s road win over Brisbane.
