A second half goal to Ludovic Boi gave Perth Glory a winning start to the National Youth League in Gosford on Friday night.
Boi capitalised on some sloppy defence from the Central Coast Mariners to score the only goal of the match in the 57th minute.
Perth deserved the 1-0 victory with the visitors dominating much of the play, especially in the second half when the Mariners were pushing forward in a bid to snatch an equaliser.
Boi’s winner was one of several good chances for Perth. Mariners goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne was forced to make a string of good saves in the final 25 minutes.
Under the watchful eye of Socceroos coach Pim Verbeek, the Mariners and Glory both adopted attacking game plans.
Central Coast’s Laurence Braude had the first chance of the match after six minutes but his low shot went just wide.
Six minutes later Sean Mitchell again had a chance to put the Mariners in front but failed to hit the target.
It was then Perth’s time to attack and the visitors had chances themselves.
The Mariners suffered a major blow in the 31st minute when striker Brady Smith was given a red card for a challenge on Dean Evans.
The Mariners battled bravely with 10 men and still created chances in the second half.
Mariners’ duo Greg Owens and Paul O’Grady both made impressive contributions.
O’Grady, who was also named on the bench in the Hyundai A-League match, played just under 60 minutes, while Owens came on in the 75th minute.
It was Owens’ first match since last year’s Hyundai A-League grand final defeat against Newcastle. He has been battling a serious hamstring injury but moved freely in his short time on the field.
Match Details
Central Coast Mariners 0
Perth Glory 1 (Ludovic Boi 57-)
Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
Central Coast Mariners line-up: 30.Andrew Redmayne (gk), 3.Paul O-Grady (2.Steven Tibbetts 59-), 5.Nathan Sherlock (7.Matthew Lewis 69-), 6.David D-Apuzzo, 7.Matthew Lewis (15.Greg Owens 84-), 8.Nick Kapsis, 9.Brady Smith, 10.Glen Trifiro, 11.Darko Vidovic, 13.Laurence Braude (12.Scott Wright 59-), 17.Sean Mitchell.
Substitutes Not Used: 1.Matthew Nash (gk)
Yellow Cards: Nathan Sherlock 23-
Red Cards: Brady Smith 31-
Perth Glory line-up: 1.Tando Velaphi (gk), 5.Brent Griffiths, 6.Dean Evans, 9.Anthony Skorich (13.Andrija Jukic 78-), 10.Adam Luca (12.Reece Vittiglia 59-), 11.Ludovic Boi (7.James Sammut 59-), 13.Andrija Jukic (8.Howard Fondyke 59-), 14.Nick Rizzo, 15.Scott Neville, 17.Hayden Doyle, 22.Ryan Pearson
Substitutes Not Used: 30.Frank Juric (gk)
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
