Central Coast Mariners coach Graham Arnold felt his team missed a golden opportunity to score back-to-back A-League wins following Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Adelaide United at Gosford.
Central Coast Mariners coach Graham Arnold felt his team missed a golden opportunity to score back-to-back A-League wins following Sunday-s 1-1 draw with Adelaide United at Gosford.
A goal to Matt Simon in the 84th minute saw the Mariners come from behind in front of 8447 fans at Bluetongue Stadium.
But Arnold felt his team deserved better after dominating the second half.
“In the second half only one team went out to win,” Arnold said.
“It-s two points lost but there-s a long way to go. We-re building, I-m happy with the way we-re playing.”
The Mariners had several chances to take the win, including claims for a penalty when Adelaide defender Daniel Mullen appeared to handball in the box in the 86th minute. Arnold and several Mariners players appealed but referee Kris Griffiths-Jones ruled play on.
“Referees make calls, they always balance up over a season,” Arnold said in the post match press conference.
Mariners skipper Alex Wilkinson said his team went to the break disappointed after allowing a sloppy goal from a set piece in first half injury time. Veteran Adelaide defender Iain Fyfe was left unmarked and tapped home from close range.
“It was a terrible goal to give away,” Wilkinson said.
Adelaide captain Lucas Pantelis said his team was prepared for a fightback from the Mariners in the second half.
“We knew they would come at us, they have a fighting mentality,” Pantelis said.
“In the end we couldn-t hang on, but a draw wasn-t a bad result for us. Our boys showed some character in the final 20 minutes, we were just hanging on.”
“We can be proud of ourselves.”
