The Central Coast Mariners Women's and Men's teams hosted Brisbane Roar at Industree Group Stadium on Sunday.
The Women's team started proceedings at 2:15pm with a 1-1 draw where both goals were scored within the space of a minute of each other in the first half.
The Mariner's were the first to score in the 26th minute after they won a corner at the southern end that was somewhat against the run of play. Annabel Martin delivered a beautiful ball towards the top of the 6 yard box. Rola Badawiya rose high to put a looping header over the Brisbane goalkeeper for her first Mariner's A-League goal.
The 1-nil lead would only last for a single minute when Brisbane equalised. A through ball Brisbane forward Mia Corbin saw her control the ball off her chest into the path of Brisbane captain, Ayesha Norrie. Norrie struck the ball well, placing it inside the right-hand upright to equalise.
The action kept coming when in the 29th minute the Mariners pressed and earned a penalty. Unfortunately, the Brisbane keeper read it well and made the save to keep scores at 1-all.
From there the highlight reels were all favour of the Mariners but they could not convert to get the second goal to come away with the win.
Fortunes were not quite as good for the Mariner's Men who were desperate to get their first win of the season but it was Brisbane who started the strongest and scored first in the 19th minute. The Roar worked the ball down the left and a through pass that appeared to cross the goal line was cut back where Roar's Florin Berenguer converted.
In the 29th minute, Noah Smith had a bullet of a shot from outside the box saved when it was headed towards the top right corner.
Two minutes later, Alou Kuol received a well timed pass from Marco Túlio that put Kuol into a one-on-one situation with the Brisbane goalkeeper.. Kuol took one touch to steady and expertly converted the opportunity to equal the score.
Kuol had another opportunity 2 minutes later, receiving the ball with his back to the goal. He turned well but his shot flashed just wide to the right.
Unfortunately, Brisbane were to go into the change rooms at half-time leading 2-1 after Thomas Waddington glanced a cross toward goal that hit the left-hand upright and went in.
The match had two major turning points in the second half. Brisbane were reduced to 10-men in the 57th minute when Joe Colletti got a second yellow after barging into Alou Kuol.
The extra player advantage did not last long when in the 63rd minute Mariner's midfielder Harry Steele was shown a straight red when his studs contacted with Jay O'Shea.
Both teams had excellent opportunities to add to the scoreline but failed to convert any of them.
The Mariner's teams have mixed schedules for their next games:
- Women next play on Saturday, 18th November at Industree Group Stadium. Their opponent will be Wellington Phoenix with kick-off being 6pm.
- Men next play on Saturday, 25th November against Newcastle Jets at McDonald Jones Stadium. Kick is at 5:30pm.