Jacob Stevens 
Adelaide United head coach Carl Veart faces the press after a 1-1 draw with the Central Coast Mariners. Photo: Jacob Stevens
Adelaide United played out a 1-1 draw with the Central Coast Mariners in their home opener for the 2024/25 A-League Men season, but Carl Veart believed the side could have done more to secure three points.
The Reds looked the stronger of the two sides in the first half, with Stefan Mauk and Zach Clough finding plenty of space between the Mariners’ lines.
Partnered with a high press, direct intent from Austin Ayoubi, and solid recovery work from Ethan Alagich and Jay Barnett, United were able to consistently keep the ball in their opponent’s half.
Veart said that the first 45 displayed the sort of football he wants his side to play this season, but that it was lacking in the second half.
“We’ve always wanted to press high and I think in the second half we were a little bit too passive with our pressing,” he said.
“And that led to the goal. We stood off them, allowed them to play a long ball in behind and we were a little bit too high with the defensive line as well so we didn’t deal with it.”
Adelaide opened the scoring in the 10th minute, as a ball worked across the face of goal found Clough at the far post, who knocked it down for the inbound Luka Jovanovic.
It took two swipes at the ball for Jovanovic to connect, and a healthy deflection helped the ball on its way into the net.
The goal served as a starting point for Jovanovic as he looks to make that starting striker role his own, with Veart happy to reiterate the goal’s importance.
“It’s always important for your nine to score goals and to get his confidence,” he said.
“Luka [Jovanovic] took his goal well in the box, and that’s one of his strengths, though there are other parts of his game that we’re still working [on].”
In the second half, however, the Reds really struggled to break through the Mariners, with Mark Jackson switching formations to field a back five – eliminating the effective two vs ones that Ayoubi and Mauk in particular were creating.
As the half wore on, the Mariners were progressing the ball far more easily, and a ball in behind, undealt with by Isaias, allowed Ryan Edmondson a shot on goal.
James Delianov parried, but only into the path of a mass of players, and a deflection took the ball to the back post, where Sabit Ngor was afforded the easiest, and first, goal in his A-League career.
Veart was displeased with the defensive standard during that goal, and said it is something that they should be doing better.
“We should have dealt better with the long ball,” Veart said.
“We got punished for something we should have defended a lot better.”
He also conceded that match conditioning, despite a strong preseason, was a big difference maker between the sides.
“[In the] second half, we just looked like we lost that little bit of match conditioning, and were a little bit too passive.
“That match sharpness – it takes three or four games.
“Yes we’ve had some good games leading up to Round One, but friendly games and games for points – the intensity is much higher.
“And you saw that with a couple of our boys who were struggling in the second half.”
Fresh legs helped inject a touch of energy back into the side, but it was too little too late by that point.
Ryan White was one such addition, making his league debut for the side.
Of particular note to Adelaide fans were the substitutions of Stefan Mauk and Panagiotis Kikianis, both of whom Veart says pulled up with cramp in the second half.
“Both of them just cramped,” he said.
“It’s a different pitch, as well, that we have to get used to.
“We’ve trained on here a couple of times so that’s something else we’re working on with the pitch – it’s a different surface to what we normally have here.”