Updated
A late goal from substitute Tomi Juric earned Western Sydney Wanderers a point against Central Coast as last season's A-League grand finalists slugged their way to a 1-1 draw on Saturday.
SCOREBOARD: CCM 1-1 WSW
 | CCM 1-1 WSW |  |
|---|---|---|
| in Gosford, October 12, 2013 | ||
| 3 | Shots on target | 5 |
| 4 | Shots off target | 9 |
| 48% | Possession | 52% |
| 3 | Corners | 6 |
| 1 | Offsides | 2 |
View full stats sheet
In the night's other clash, the Melbourne Derby ended in a disappointing 0-0 draw between the Victory and the Heart at Docklands.
In Gosford, former Adelaide striker Juric slammed home a close-range volley off a delightful cross from winger Youssouf Hersi in the 87th minute in Gosford.
It cancelled out an equally well-taken and constructed goal from Socceroo striker Mitchell Duke in the 55th minute.
Duke chipped the ball across goalkeeper Ante Covic into the far corner after being put through by a sublime pass from Marcos Flores.
The two teams boasted easily the tightest defences in last season's competition and both again looked strong at the back.
Clear-cut chances were at a premium in the first half, with the Wanderers creating the best openings against a Mariners team including just four of their grand final starting line-up.
Hersi blazed over from close range after Mariners goalkeeper Justin Pasfield saved two shots in quick succession from Bridge.
With Flores becoming progressively more influential the Mariners looked far more threatening after the break.
Nonetheless, Central Coast were indebted to Pasfield, who made at least four fine saves, including an acrobatic save to deny a dangerous Shinji Ono free-kick.
Central Coast Mariners: 1 (M Duke 55')
Western Sydney Wanderers: 1 (T Juric 87')
SCOREBOARD: VIC 0-0 HRT
 | VIC 0-0 HRT |  |
|---|---|---|
| at Docklands, October 12, 2013 | ||
| 3 | Shots on target | 1 |
| 6 | Shots off target | 8 |
| 64% | Possession | 36% |
| 5 | Corners | 6 |
| 0 | Offsides | 5 |
View full stats sheet
The hand of Melbourne Heart recruit Patrick Kisnorbo has saved his A-League club in a scoreless derby against Melbourne Victory.
In a match attended by 45,202 fans at Docklands and in which six yellow cards were handed out, the biggest talking point came in the 47th minute, when anguished Victory cries for handball were ignored.
A seemingly goal-bound shot from the Victory's Adama Traore was stopped by Kisnorbo.
Replays showed his left hand was away from his body when the ball struck it, but the Victory protests were waved away by referee Peter Green.
It was part of a concerted Victory second-half effort to clinch the three points, with the nominal home side doing most of the attacking after half-time.
We dominated large parts of that second half but we'll take the clean sheet, it's a good start to the season.
Heart keeper Andrew Redmayne
After the match, Heart stopper Andrew Redmayne told Grandstand his side was happy enough with the clean sheet.
"We dominated large parts of that second half but we'll take the clean sheet, it's a good start to the season," he said.
"We watched a lot of video, we've been working for a couple weeks on how the Victory play. We've done a lot of work on them and I think it really showed tonight."
In the first half, it had been the Heart which had looked the more threatening, particularly on the counter-attack.
The pace of David Williams and Golgol Mebrahtu looked capable of piercing the Victory defence, while new Heart captain Harry Kewell produced some clever set-up work against his former club.
The Heart's Mate Dugandzic sprayed an open chance in the 11th minute, after Williams' pace allowed him to get clear and make a nice cross.
Mebrahtu broke onto a Harry Kewell through-ball to get past advancing keeper Nathan Coe 10 minutes later, but could not balance himself well enough to get a shot past two Victory defenders.
Kewell, who regularly copped loud booing from the pro-Victory crowd, needed a bandage on a cut above an eye after a first-half clash with former team-mate Adrian Leijer contesting a header.
But his class showed late in the half.
Kewell just missed with a long-range shot, latching on to a loose ball after a Leijer attempted clearance rebounded off a team-mate five minutes from halftime.
In the last minute of the half, a Kewell header from a long, high ball found the feet of Mebrahtu, who spun and shot but was just off target.
ABC/AAP
Topics: a-league, soccer, sport, gosford-2250, nsw, blacktown-2148, australia
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