Matthew Comito 1612236607,1612418370
From Victoria, through the Northern Territory to Gosford: the story of Stefan Nigro s journey to an A-League comeback with Central Coast Mariners is a tale of both professional and personal development, aided by the mentorship of Australia s iconic coach whisperer .
Nigro, 24, made 35 A-League appearances across stints at Brisbane Roar and Melbourne Victory before joining NPL Victoria outfit Green Gully in 2020.
But, in the midst of the pandemic, the NPL season was abandoned, leaving Nigro at a crossroads.
With an ambition to make an A-League return and no conventional route presenting itself to do so in uncertain times the young defender forged his own path, embarking what would prove to be a testing and rewarding journey across three states as he pursued a contract with the Mariners.
Ninkovic nets a brilliant solo goal past Adam Federici
As Milicic dissected Ninkovic s ability to inflict defeat on his side on the night, he could just as easily have been praising the performance of his own player had the Serbian made the move from the Sky Blues to the A-League newcomers for their inaugural campaign.
But the move never eventuated, leaving Corica with a player he hopes will continue to fill his boots with similarly well-taken goals throughout the 2020/21 A-League campaign.
“Ninko is quality, you saw it again tonight,” Corica said.
“It was even a bit of a change of pace for him as well, straight through the middle.
Samuel Green 1612004446,1612004446
Perth Glory coach Richard Garcia is ‘pretty confident’ captain Diego Castro will have a vital role to play against Melbourne City on Sunday.
The 38-year-old is yet to feature in the A-League this season but Garcia revealed the Spanish maestro will return for the clash at AAMI Park, kick-off 6.40pm AEDT.
Glory have still managed to rattle in 10 goals without Castro, while also conceding 10 in their three matches, and Garcia wants to gradually build up his skipper’s fitness.
That means Castro is not set to play 90 minutes against the Victorian side – but with forwards Andy Keogh and Nick D’Agostino carrying knocks from training, Garcia did not rule out naming his captain from the start.
Samuel Green 1611807922,1612995877
Sydney FC head into their first ever meeting with start-up club Macarthur FC on Saturday looking to get back on track after a humbling home defeat against the Central Coast Mariners.
The defending A-League Premiers and Champions were upset 2-0 on their own soil by the new ladder-leaders last weekend and the Bulls will be out to inflict more misery on the Sky Blues when they make the short journey south-west to Campbelltown Stadium.
Still finding their feet in the competition, Ante Milicic’s side are yet to christen their home turf with a victory, although goals from Loic Puyo and Matt Derbyshire in last weekend s 2-1 win over the Newcastle Jets made it two wins on the road to send the newcomers fourth in the table.
Two of the A-League’s form teams go head-to-head as Brisbane Roar and Adelaide United aim to position themselves among the competition frontrunners on Saturday at Dolphin Stadium.
Warren Moon’s Roar have hit their stride and pieced together back-to-back wins to sit three points off the ladder-leading Central Coast Mariners, while Carl Veart’s second-placed Reds can climb to top spot, overnight at least, with a victory.