It was not what someone would have expected in view of the respective positions of the two teams, but the 10th place for the Mariner was a good value for the result.
They fought hard and were the better team for an unusually flat Auckland FC for a long time, in which the vast majority was from their game.
After a bright start that was achieved by an excellent team destination in the 10 minutes, the Black Knights was not completed.
They could not get their rhythm in possession or possessed and looked hesitant for a long time. The Mariners had nothing to lose in the course of the game and improved, won the midfield and landed with the threats of Auckland before compensating in the 71st minute.
The league leaders still had enough chances to win, but they could not take them.
The result will encourage encouragement for the persecution pack before the last run of six games, only two in Auckland.
Trainer Steve Corica has made a change, with the returning Dan Hall returning to the suspended Nando Pijnaker.
The opening goal was a beauty. The defense divided the defense of a customs-perfect pass from Neyder Moreno before Jesse Randall produced a top cross for the emphatic header from May. A relief for Randall-The shortly earlier gave a good chance when he misjudged a Hiroki Sakai delivery-and another example of Moreno's X factor.
You could have progressed further, but Randall couldn't make the best of a precise ball from Francis de Vries, while May offered an opportunity after a decent death.
But the tour did not provide the expected impulse. Instead, Auckland FC were messy and relaxed; The passes were a short circuit, movement was not quite there and the physical presence was missing, since Corica was increasingly frustrated on the sidelines.
It meant that the central coast got momentum and began to look more likely. Hall displaced to block a shot from Lucas Mauragis before Christian Theoharous forced a point empty by Alex Paulsen.
Auckland started again shortly before half-time when May turned to sting the palms of the goalkeeper Dylan Peraic-Cullen, and then Logan Rogerson nodded almost broadly from an almost post-corner.
But it wasn't convincing. Auckland was still slightly equipped in the second half and could not apply their usual press. The replacement of Cameron Howieson (Randall) and Marlee Francois (Moreno) were introduced in the hour and also had an immediate influence, but Howiesons Cross for Rogerson was a farm.
But it felt like the game was in balance before the Mariners deserved the equalization. It came from a short counter – with a few wonderful footwork in the middle of the park – before Vitor Feijao went home. However, it will not look good in the review meeting, since the cross did not put pressure on the cross, then the normally reliable DE -Vries hesitated, so that Feijao takes up.
It felt like the shock that Auckland FC needed. The intensity raised before Elliott's empty finish after Sakai cleverly nodded a deep free kick from de Vries. It was a good strike that halved a small gap between the nearby strong and the goalkeeper.
That should have been enough, but Auckland FC could not closed the result that was catastrophic when the ball in the penalty area flipped in the penalty before Nicholas Duarte's header was distracted in Sakai.
Auckland FC 2 (Guillermo, May 10th, Callan Elliott 78 ')
Central Coast Mariners 2 (Vitor Feijao 71 ', Nicholas Duarte 90')
Half time 1-0
