Roar, Mariners still winless after drawn out battle

Brisbane Roar and Central Coast continue to search for their first wins of the season after a frustrating 0-0 draw.

Central Coast’s Liam Rose and Massimo Maccarone of the Roar at Suncorp Stadium yesterday

Brisbane Roar and Central Coast continue to search for their first wins of the season after a frustrating 0-0 draw at Suncorp Stadium last night — the first scoreless draw of the A-League season.

After five rounds, the Mariners (three draws) and the Roar (two draws) are struggling to get away from the bottom part of the table. There was some consolation for the Roar with the point taking them off the bottom, replaced by Wellington Phoenix on goal ­difference.

For the Mariners, this was ­another opportunity wasted after they controlled most of the second half, only to be denied by a ­combination of Roar goalkeeper Jamie Young and their ineptness in front of goal.

Young gun Danny De Silva, one of the rising stars of Australian soccer, will be kicking himself after wasting two superb chances, ­particularly early in the second half when he pounced on Mitch Oxborrow’s disastrous attempted pass across the face of his own goal.

De Silva was left one on one with Young who produced a ­sublime save stretching to his left to push the ball way.

The Roar also had a great chance to win the game in the dying seconds of injury time after forcing a corner. The ball was whipped in and Jade North met it with a diving header only for goalkeeper Ben Kennedy to pull off a miraculous save.

With neither side yet to open their winning account for the ­season, it was understandably that both sides seemed overly cautious in their approach ­although the Roar probably ­created the better chances.

The home side looked to press high up the park, hoping to force the Mariners, who like to control the ball at the back, into mistakes. Certainly the visitors initially had problems, turning over possession in their own half.

However, Brisbane were guilty of falling down in the final third of the field . Their last pass let them down, which sabotaged their ­ability to punish the ­Mariners.

Roar’s Italian marquee Massimo Maccarone was in the thick of things and had the first real chance of the game when his header from a cross from the right took a deflection before being safely gathered by goalkeeper Kennedy in the ninth minute.

And he should have done ­better 11 minutes later when he was played through into the box before chipping the advancing Kennedy, only to see the ball just slip past the right post.

It was a gift chance and he knew he had botched it. There was a genuine scare for the Mariners in the 32nd minute when Frenchman Eric Bautheac tried his luck from range. Kennedy managed to block the shot but the ball rolled away. Maccarone ­swooped and was brought down by the goal keeper for what ­appeared to be a penalty.

However, the Italian was ruled to have been offside in what was a close call.

Replays were inconclusive and Roar coach John Aloisi raged on the sidelines, fuming at how ­quickly the assistant ­referee had put his flag up for what he said was a “borderline” call.

While they dominated ­possession 56 per cent to 46 per cent for the half, the Mariners were not too effective in the ­Brisbane danger zone and hardly caused any problems for Young.

It was only in the final 10-12 minutes of the first half that the NSW side put the Roar defence under some pressure.

Their best chance came from a ball floated into the box from the right. Jake McGing climbed hard to head the ball into the ground ­towards Young, who made a ­wonderful reflex save to keep it out.

Aloisi later admitted the draw was probably a fair result, given neither team had enough quality to convert the few chances they had.

But he was pleased that they’ve at least stopped losing.

“We had three losses from our first three games,” Aloisi said. “It’s important that we stopped that, and we (did) in the last two games. “I think both teams were desperate in their defending because they haven’t kept a clean sheet. Neither have we.

“That’s a positive for us, especially after conceding three goals last week in the first 20 minutes.”