We had a successful trip up north on Saturday morning, defeating Central Coast Mariners 2-0 at the CCM Centre of Excellence.
First half strikes from Oliver Puflett and Fabian Monge ensured a third consecutive win for the Red & Black, who move up to first place in Y-League Conference B, three points ahead of Sydney FC.
The Wanderers got off to a bright start, taking the lead afteronly nine minutes. Daniel Wilmering found Puflett after a well worked short corner routine, with the Young Socceroo’s header looping into the top corner of the goal.
We almost had a second a few minutes later when Mark Tokich played a pinpoint corner kick to the edge of the penalty area, but a fierce volley from Andrea Agamemnonos flew just over the crossbar.
Abraham Majok then went close after getting on the end of Lachlan Scott’s layoff, unleashing a spectacular curling shot that missed the target by inches.
Majok was looking dangerous every time he got the ball, the pacey winger got behind the defence after a slick passing move, forcing a save from Mariners goalkeeper Aidan Munford.
After another short corner routine led to Majok heading wide, the pressure finally paid off as we doubled our lead just before halftime. Fabian Monge was the scorer, receiving a pass from Majok and leaving two defenders in his wake, before slotting the ball into the bottom corner for his first goal of the season.
Our momentum continued into the second half, as Majok got on the end of a counter attack only to be denied by an acrobatic save from Munford.
Scott then thought he had scored after converting Puflett’s cross, but play was called back for offside.
Seconds later, there was a close call at the other end when former WSW Academy player Dylan Ruiz-Diaz sent a long range shot crashing off the crossbar with Nicholas Suman beaten.
As the game opened up, Scott blasted the ball just wide, while Suman made a sharp save from Mariners forward Emmanuel Peters.
We would eventually regain control of the game, two of our substitutes had chances to extend our lead, with Oliver Wiggin firing the ball over, before Marley Peterson sent the ball wide after more good work from Majok.
After that Suman easily dealt with a couple of long range efforts, as the Red & Black were able to see out the remainder of the contest.
We’re back at home this weekend – our next Y-League fixture is against Canberra United at Valentine Sports Park on Saturday 22 December. Kickoff is at 4:30pm.
Central Coast Mariners 0
Western Sydney Wanderers 2 (Oliver Puflett 9’, Fabian Monge 39’)
Western Sydney Wanderers: Nicholas Suman (c), Tate Russell, Thomas Aquilina, Mathieu Cordier, Daniel Wilmering, Mark Tokich, Fabian Monge, Andrea Agamemnonos (Adrian Valenti 83’) Oliver Puflett (Marley Peterson 64’), Abraham Majok, Lachlan Scott (Oliver Wiggin 69’)
Unused substitute: Elliot Carwardine
