Heart upset Mariners in A-League

Central Coast’s hold on A-League top spot is weakening fast, after an unconverted penalty consigned the Mariners to a 1-0 defeat against Melbourne Heart on Sunday.

The AAMI Park win lifted the Heart to fifth, now three points clear of seventh-placed Sydney FC with a superior goal difference.

Central Coast’s loss left them just three points clear of reigning champions Brisbane Roar, who trailed them by 11 points just over three weeks ago, with the Mariners picking up just four points in five games since.

Young Heart striker Eli Babalj’s sixth goal of the season put the Heart ahead early in the second half after a first period marked by five yellow cards, but few good scoring chances for either side.

The card frenzy included a double, when the Heart’s Aziz Behich was cautioned for clipping the head of Mariners goalkeeper and Olyroos team-mate Mat Ryan with his foot, after the stopper dived on a long ball.

Ryan was also carded for shoving Behich to the ground.

Babalj’s close-range chance, in the 50th minute, was superbly taken, lunging with his left foot to trap a cross from the right by captain Fred at the near post, then swinging through his right foot to ram it home while holding off experienced defender Alex Wilkinson.

The home side’s lead looked like being short-lived, when Tomas Rogic earned the penalty four minutes later, doing well to control the ball through traffic in the box, before Fred brought him down from behind.

Englishman John Sutton, a recent Mariners signing who had had a quiet game, stepped to the spot.

On first glance, his shot looked to have been blocked by veteran custodian Clint Bolton, although replays suggested it might have actually rebounded off the right post.

Either way, Bolton completed the job by then diving the other way to also deny Patrick Zwaanswijk, who failed to latch onto the rebound with enough pace.

Minutes later Sutton was benched, replaced by livewire Bernie Ibini.

The Heart held on, despite the Mariners repeatedly sending the ball into their attacking penalty area in a desperate four minutes of stoppage time.

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