Melbourne Victory Youth came from behind twice before romping home to defeat Central Coast Mariners Youth 5-2 on a sunny Sunday at Lakeside stadium.
In an entertaining game, a first half hat-trick to Christopher Cristaldo and second half brace to Jesse Makarounas cancelled out Josh Bingham’s early double and ensured the home side emphatically claimed the three points.
In search of an unlikely upset, Central Coast’s captain twice propelled his team into the lead, but the bottom side was unable to maintain the pressure as Victory switched into gear.
Whilst Central Coast started the game brightly, it was Cristaldo with the first clear-cut opportunity of the game, inexplicably blasting Connor Pain’s low cross over the crossbar.
However, after some clever build up play it was Bingham with the first goal of the game in the 11th minute, placing a shot past the outstretched hands of Victory goalkeeper Keegan Coulter, who had just returned from replacing Lawrence Thomas as deputy to the first team.
Ten minutes later, Cristaldo made amends for his earlier miss, capitalising on another run down the wing from Pain and cutback into the box, trapping the ball and shooting it past Mariners’ goalkeeper Tonu Liiband.
The home side then found themselves behind again when Central Coast was awarded a contentious penalty just after the half hour mark, with Bingham making no mistake from the spot.
Stung by the goal, Victory hit back almost immediately when Cristaldo struck a low shot past Liiband into the bottom corner of the net, after receiving a pass from Francesco Stella.
From then the home side never looked back, taking complete control of the game.
Victory players thought they had the lead when a corner kick resulted in a shot cannoning into the crossbar, but the ball was adjudged not to have crossed the line before being saved.
But they did eventually take the lead just before half time, with Cristaldo completing his hat-trick by pouncing on a poor defensive back pass that Liiband struggled to control, tucking the ball past the hapless Mariners keeper.
Returning from the break, the home side continued to dominate play, doubling their lead in the 50th minute after a slick exchange between Pain and Jesse Makarounas resulted in the latter finessing the ball past Liiband into the back of the net.
Central Coast never looked likely to mount a comeback, with Victory’s back four looking more composed with each passing minute, cleaning up through balls and clearing crosses into the box with ease.
At the other end, Pain continued to threaten down the wing, unlucky not to have a goal to his name after creating a number of opportunities throughout the game.
Whilst substitute Anthony Proia missed two gilt edged chances to put the game beyond doubt, his final shot on goal in stoppage time was not handled properly by Liiband, leaving Makarounas with an easy tap in.
It was just reward for dominant performance by the home side, with the scoreline generally reflecting the balance of play.
The win consolidated Victory’s spot in the top four, leaving the Mariners firmly rooted at the foot of the National Youth League table.
Team Lineups:
[ws_table id=”60″]
Substitutes:
[ws_table id=”61″]
Substitutions:
[ws_table id=”62″]
Scorers:
[ws_table id=”63″]