KEY POINTS:
Mariners 2 Knights 0
Different day, different coach - same old story.
A pass mark for effort, but little else for the New Zealand Knights as they went down to Central Coast Mariners in their Hyundai A-League clash at North Harbour Stadium yesterday.
Given the upheaval of having coach Paul Nevin sent packing during the week and with less than the bare minimum of players on the substitutes bench, there was no surprise the 2100 spectators left the ground feeling robbed.
There was some early promise with the new-look pairing of recalled Michael White and late newcomer Alen Marcina adding some much-needed pace up front and testing the Mariners' defence on a couple of early occasions.
They were however denied by firstly goalkeeper Danny Vukovic and then a desperate clearance for a corner.
The home team gave as good as they got in the first half but after the break when Mariners' coach Lawrie McKinna was able to go to his bench to pick up and then maintain the momentum, new Knights' boss Barry Simmonds had no such luxury.
With injuries to Jonas Salley and Scott Gemmill and Greg Duruz again suspended, third goalkeeper Danny Milosevic was named as an outfield substitute joining spare goalkeeper Mark Paston and Fernando as the Knights' only cover.
With the "I've played everywhere man" Neil Emblen handed a central midfield role there was little surprise the pace eventually told when the visitors picked up the tempo.
The deadlock was not broken until the 65th minute when midfielder John Hutchinson slipped a good ball through to the ever-alert Damian Mori who beat the offside trap, drew Michael Turnbull from his line, before hitting home a well-angled low shot.
That visibly drained any remaining fight from the home side but they refused to yield completely with centre backs Che Bunce and Sime Kovacevic battling to the end while out wide Malik Buari again showed good pace and fired in a number of crosses which deserved better.
The second goal was a cruel blow for the Knights.
More than four minutes into added time and from another dubious decision from referee Peter Green, the visitors doubled their score when substitute Nick Mrdja from just outside the penalty area slammed a freekick low and hard and left Turnbull shaking his head in amazement.
That about summed up the Knights day.
They had 10 per cent more possession than their opposites, had seven of eight attempts on target and won just one fewer corner (3-4) than the Mariners but again came up empty.
With Perth snatching a 2-1 win over Newcastle to move on to 14 points in seventh place, the Knights have fallen seven points behind the team immediately above them on the table.
That, sadly, has an ominous ring about it.
The next move in the off-field saga at the club will come this week with a meeting between chairman Anthony Lee and New Zealand Soccer chairman John Morris.
A number of issues, including any likely involvement of national coach Ricki Herbert, are certain to be discussed.
