A-League wrap: Mariners maintain unbeaten streak

The Central Coast Mariners maintained their momentum at the summit of the A-League with a 1-0 victory against Sydney FC on Sunday.

The win took the Mariners unbeaten streak to 12 matches, while the Sky Blues’ woes continue after suffering their third successive defeat.

A lone goal from midfielder Oliver Bozanic proved the difference in a match dominated by the Mariners in the opening half, with Sydney’s second-half revitalisation proving to be in vain.

As has often been the case this season, Sydney conceded an early goal with the Mariners scoring in their first attacking foray of note on just nine minutes.

Sydney started the second half with renewed vigour and goalkeeper Matt Ryan was soon forced to dive bravely at Nicky Carle’s feet and deny the No.10 who had deftly exchanged passes with Terry Antonis.

The fluency and pace of the contest quickened providing openings at either end, and, while it was Sydney that were starting to enjoy the majority of possession, they could not convert that into the goal they needed to take a share of the points.

A moment of subtle brilliance from Maceo Rigters salvaged Gold Coast United a 1-1 draw in their clash with Melbourne Heart at Skilled Park.

United looked headed for another luckless night with Kristian Sarkies’ early deflected free-kick all that split the two sides for the majority of the match, despite vast periods of dominance from the home side.

But in the 72nd minute they found the equalizer they searched so desperately for – and it came from a classy touch by ex-Blackburn Rovers striker Rigters.

Peter Jungschlager had picked out Kristian Rees with a deft ball from the left, but the experienced centre-back’s shot was heading straight towards the former Netherlands youth international.

The quick-thinking Rigters not only arched his way out of the ball’s path, he diverted the ball into the back of the net with a clever back-heel that gave his side a share of the points.

The draw mean the Heart miss the chance to leapfrog the Brisbane Roar into second place on the A-League table, while Gold Coast remain rooted to the bottom, three points behind Newcastle.

In New Zealand, Perth Glory stole a dramatic 1-0 victory against Wellington Phoenix at Westpac Stadium, with defender Josh Mitchell heading in the winning goal deep into stoppage time.

The ball was whipped into the box and bounced in front of Mitchell who nodded it past a stranded Tony Warner to give Perth their first victory in Wellington.