Central Coast beats Adelaide on an own-goal, 1-0

Adelaide United’s first pre-season game against A-League competition ended in a 1-0 loss to Central Coast Mariners on Thursday in heavy rain at the Coopers Stadium. Michael McGlinchey’s 58th minute shot redirected off of Jordan Elsey, beating Eugene Galekovich for the game’s only goal. For the Mariners, this was a send off ahead of the Menpora Cup in Indonesia, which begins on September 20 in Bandung.

The Reds, who brought more than their share of injuries into the match, fielded a makeshift line-up as Jeronimo, Cassio, Bruce Djite, Marcelo Carrusca and Fabio Ferreira were all unavailable. New signing Steven Lustica is not yet in Adelaide. Yet Josep Gombau’s men ably played the Spaniard’s style, holding possession for lengthy spells and putting the usually possession-oriented Mariners on the back foot, especially in the first half.

After trading decent chances, Central Coast’s a header from Trent Sainsbury, and Adelaide’s a Jon McKain shot that forced a fine save from Justin Pasfield, the teams entered half-time without scoring. The two clubs combined for ten half-time substitutions, altering what was an interesting first half and removing any ability to fairly judge either side. The own-goal came just before the hour when McGlinchey’s shot deflected off of Adelaide substitute Elsey, beating Galekovich and setting the final score line.

Adelaide have the next nine days off before playing Western Sydney Wanderers at Centrebet Stadium in Penrith on Friday September 20. The Mariners do not play again in Australia until after the Menpora Cup when they play Newcastle Jets at Scully Park Oval in Tamworth on Sunday September 29.

Scoring:

CCM Own-goal 58’

Starting Line-ups:

Adelaide: Galekovic; Zullo, Boogaard, McKain, Bowles; Malik, Barker-Daish, Isaias; Mabil, Cirio, Elrich

Central Coast: Pasfield; Rose, Seip, Sainsbury, Roux; Hutchinson, Caceres; McGlinchey, Flores, Fitzgerald; Simon