Central Coast coach Paul Okon was left ruing refereeing decisions after the Mariners twice gave up the lead in Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Western Sydney at Spotless Stadium.
Both Okon and Wanderers caretaker coach Hayden Foxe came off the weekly A-League rollercoaster, feeling a mixture of pride and disappointment.
The Wanderers have four points, their best tally after two rounds.
While Foxe was pleased by his side’s resilience, he was disappointed with their lack of fluency.
Okon was delighted with the way his side rebounded from last week’s 5-1 home loss to Newcastle, but felt they should have won.
He pointed out they had climbed off the bottom, but was clearly frustrated by some of the officiating.
They conceded a second contentious penalty in as many rounds, with Dutchman Wout Brama deemed by referee Chris Beath to have pushed Roly Bonevacia in the back just before halftime.
Oreil Riera converted the spot-kick, cancelling out a score from Spanish compatriot Asdrubal, with each of the new import strikers notching a second goal in as many rounds.
Asked if he had any issue with the penalty, Okon said: “It doesn’t really matter what I think. It’s two (penalties) in two weeks – let’s hope it’s not three in three weeks.
“If you really want to know, a horrible decision.”
Okon was also left unhappy by the 85th-minute dismissal of recruit Andrew Hoole after a second yellow card.
“I disagree, but I’m not going to whinge about it. It’s done and the important thing for us is to focus on our response after last week.
“Really proud of the players and their response. The work they put in during the week was tremendous.”
“I thought we were excellent. We played some great football.”
Daniel De Silva gave the Mariners a 2-1 lead in the 63rd minute when he latched onto a Hoole through ball.
Bonevacia equalised six minutes later, after Mariners goalkeeper Thomas Glover pushed a Josh Risdon cross into his path.
“We didn’t play nowhere near as fluent as we normally do, so that was a disappointing part of it,” Foxe said.
“I thought they started quite brightly and I thought that we gave them too much room to play.
“We can improve a lot from that performance, but the the real positive thing is we didn’t get beat – we came back twice.”
Tired Legs
Guest
Just watched the replay Mid. Loved how the commentators waxed lyrical about the Mariners being thought soft, after years of calling them hackers & grafters. So typical. And Beath was (as always) all about the Beath. There's some real promise there, and I dont think anyone will be taking us for granted after that.
Midfielder
Guest
Following a small club can be frustrating at times Other fans always point out crowds and any little thing.....refs seem to always favour the bigger club. A soft pen, player sent off, denied a hand ball call in the box. Broadcasters always seem to favour the bigger club. Hacked all night ... Coastlie till I die...??????