ASA wins 2-1 against Mariners

Australasian Soccer Academy defeat Central Coast Mariners 2-1 at Tuggerah.
ASA went into the game as big odds to go down to the Mariners.
But Tony Basha’s men had other ideas, putting on a football clinic for the strong 300 crowd that braved the hot conditions. Both teams went pound for pound in the first 20 minutes. Mariners were the first team to find the back of the net after some dreadful defending found an unmarked man to fire home.
It was a very tight affair with ASA putting together some good short passing football to trouble the Mariners with there speed. Head Coach Tony Basha told ASA website he told his players at the break , to show a bit more flair in attack and be a little tighter in defence.
Second half ASA looked to be a little more composed and threatened the Mariners goal on a few occasions, with Jawed Qasimi hitting the post after a sweeping passing movement found Qasimi unmarked in the box but failed to score.
In the 55th minute a cross by Braydon Sorge found a flying Salman Hassani to head home a world class goal. ASA had numerous chances to finish of the Mariners in the early stages of the second half, but it took young 15 year old Mitchell Gibbs to come on and bury the coasties when he rounded the keeper to slot home the winner.
Head Coach Tony Basha praised his players, they were excellent I am so proud of them. We played against a very well drilled side, so I couldn’t be more happier with the result.
Basha also reaped praise on the young boys that played the last 25 minutes. They were brilliant for us, The Future is bright for the academy, it really shows our players are more than capable of A-league football.
They can follow in the footsteps of academy stars Kwabena Appiah -Kubi of Western Sydney and Mitchell Duke – Central coast Mariners and SOCCEROOS.