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My apologies for not flagging this sooner - but the Sky Blues made a change at the break.
Fabio Gomes, the Brazilian striker, is on, and Jordan Courtney-Perkins has come off. As far as we know, it’s a tactical sub, not forced by injury.
Sydney FC 1-1 Central Coast Mariners, 51 minutes
The second half is under way. Josh Nisbet, the goalscorer for the Mariners, has just kicked us off. Let’s see what else this match has in store for us... ooh, a shot almost straight from kick-off via Mikael Doka! It’s deflected and the Mariners will now have a corner... and nothing comes from it.
That was fun. And the Mariners will be delighted with how things are sitting at the moment - Sydney had the better of the first half and definitely controlled the game better, but they didn’t generate many chances outside of the goal and Burgess’ shot, and when that happens, you leave yourself open.
Andrew Redmayne will be kicking himself after that effort. They’d almost seen things out to half-time but one mistake changes everything.
A reminder, if you needed it: the away goals rule is not a thing in the A-League, so that goal is not worth anything other than one singular goal for the Mariners, who will host the second leg in Gosford next weekend.
Wow!
It’s 1-1, the Mariners have stunned Sydney FC on the stroke of half-time!
Mikael Doka took a shot from a long way out, it looked harmless… but Redmayne has made an absolute meal of that, parring the ball just forward of him instead of securing it. Josh Nisbet sniffs out the chance, follows it up and chips it over him!
That’s the last play of the first half, too. And what a way to finish a cracking 45 minutes of football.
Sydney FC 1-1 Central Coast Mariners, half-time
A near miss for Sydney - and it’s Max Burgess again in the thick of the action. He receives a pass at the top of their attacking box, completely unmarked, and sweeps a shot with his trusty left foot… it’s just wide.
Meanwhile, there are three minutes of added time to come before the break.
Sydney FC 1-0 Central Coast Mariners, 45 minutes
Sydney FC have won a corner kick - by my reckoning, and indeed by the official stats, this will be the first of the game so far...
Luke Brattan takes it, but it’s too deep and Brian Kaltak heads it away to safety. The hosts have looked much better since the goal, I’ll say that.
And now… the smallest man on the pitch, Josh Nisbet, has a free header on goal! The Mariners surge to the other end and fortunately for Sydney, it’s easy for Redmayne to save.
Sydney FC 1-0 Central Coast Mariners, 43 minutes
That’s gotta hurt. Alou Kuol has just copped the full force of a Joel King long ball to the side of his head. He’s up and about now, but I’ve seen lesser incidents concuss players before.
Anyway, that’s all to say not much has happened since the goal - aside from an almost perfect lobbed pass from the Mariners’ defence for Mikael Doka, which wasn’t quite perfect and as such went out of play harmlessly. But almost!
Sydney FC 1-0 Central Coast Mariners, 37 minutes