Belconnen Beaton by Taylor!

Match Report By Russ Gibbs
Belconnen United 1 Central Coast Mariners 2
(BU: Dustin Wells 33’) (CCM: Taylor Beaton 63’, 90’)


BELCONNEN UNITED v CENTRAL COAST MARINERS
Match Report
Belconnen United 1 Central Coast Mariners 2
(BU: Dustin Wells 33’) (CCM: Taylor Beaton 63’, 90’)

By Russ Gibbs




Match Report
Belconnen United 1 Central Coast Mariners 2
(BU: Dustin Wells 33’) (CCM: Taylor Beaton 63’, 90’)

By Russ Gibbs

Belconnen United were undone by one of their own at the Belconnen Soccer Centre on Wednesday evening as the Central Coast Mariners defeated Steve Forshaw’s plucky troops by the odd goal in three thanks to a brace from current Blue Devils youngster Taylor Beaton. The Belconnen midfielder shone in both halves, the first played in the Blue of the home team and the second in the yellow of the visitors as he trialled for the A-League franchise.

But it was for the Central Coast that he stamped his mark on the match with a pair of expertly converted goals, the second coming with literally the last kick of the match, to secure the Booz and Company Cup for Lawrie McKinna’s men. Beaton would have done his chances of securing a contract with the Mariners Youth set-up no harm at all with an all-action display that lifted a lacklustre Mariners outfit to victory.

The first half belonged to the home side, egged on by a lively crowd of over 800. Belconnen’s performance belied their recent form slump in the ACT Premier League, with last Sunday’s goalless draw at home to Queanbeyan City seemingly costing the club any hopes of a minor Premiership as they drifted seven points behind competition front runners Canberra FC.

After a scrappy opening period the Blue Devils stunned their illustrious visitors with a goal after thirty-three minutes that will no doubt have pleased head coach Forshaw. David Kemp stormed through from midfield with a lung-bursting run taking him at the heart of the Mariners defence before slipping a slide rule pass through to the advancing Dustin Wells. The former Wellington Phoenix tyro took one touch before smashing a low drive past the hapless Andrew Redmayne and into the corner of the net.


The response from the visitors was immediate as last season’s A-League Grand Final runner’s-up lifted the ante. A swift break saw Dean Heffernan cut the ball back to ace-predator Sasho Petrovski and the Mariners hit-man looked certain to score only to be denied by a sensational defensive block. Belconnen shot-stopper Alex Connell then made a superb reflex save to deny Dylan MacAllister a sixth pre-season goal, but in truth the Central Coast opportunities were few and far between. At the other end Belconnen probed for a second before the break but to no avail.

The half-time interval saw Taylor Beaton switch sides in order to give Lawrie McKinna the chance to see the youngster in action at close quarters and he certainly impressed. His verve and swagger gave lie to his tender years as with some experienced colleagues surrounding him he took the game by the scruff of the neck.

Freed into the penalty area just after the hour mark Beaton composed himself to coolly slot the ball past the advancing Connell to level the scores prompting much angst amongst the parochial home support who, on the one hand were glad for Beaton, but on the other were hoping he missed!

No such luck for Belconnen on that occasion, but the crowd would have been delighted by the spirit and determination showed by their favourites as they more than matched the professionals. With Socceroo’s Heffernan, Petrovski and Ahmad Elrich in the line-up as well as seasoned pros such as Andrew Clark, Alex Wilkinson and John Hutchinson, this was by no means a second-string Mariners team and yet the Blue Devils were more than their equal for large swathes of the clash. Indeed the match looked to be heading for a draw until the Beaton’s denouement.

There were only seconds remaining on the clock when the Central Coast pressed for a winner down the right flank. A cross field ball fell kindly to Beaton twenty-five yards from goal and the Belconnen boy lashed home a cracking first-time drive low into the bottom corner of the net to seal what was an underserved victory.

It was a harsh conclusion for Belconnen who were worthy of a draw but it was a night to remember for Taylor Beaton who may have taken a major step towards A-League stardom.


Match Details

Central Coast Mariners 30. Andrew Redmayne (gk), 6. David D’Apuzzo (11. Taylor Beaton 57’), 7. John Hutchinson, 8. Dean Heffernan (16. Jamie Lobb 46’), 9. Predrag Bojic, 10. Frank Lagana (17. Matthew Osman 74’), 15. Andrew Clark, 18. Alex Wilkinson, 21. Ahmad Elrich, 22. Sasho Petrovski (12. Nathan Moseley 66’), 27. Dylan Macallister

Yellow Cards Elrich 88’
Red Cards None
Goals Beaton 59’, 90’+3

Belconnen United 20. Alex Connell (gk), 3. Dustin Wells, 4. Lee Pietrukowski, 5. Taylor Beaton, 6. Ian Waldon, 7. Cameron Beaton, 8. Cameron Reinhart, 9. David Leet, 11. David Kemp, 14. Steve O’Callaghan, 15. Nuru Somi

Substitutes 1. Ben Cheyne (gk), 2. Matthew Valeri, 12. Marc O’Neill, 13. Scott Blewitt, 17. Phillip Brugead, 18. Ryan Kyprianou

Yellow Cards None
Red Cards None
Goals Wells 34’

Referee Gary Vanderburgt





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