AN admirable draw from the Western NSW Mariners FC in their men’s State League 1 fixture against competition leaders Hakoah Sydney City East FC on Saturday night has given the club some breathing space in their fight against relegation. 

The nil-all result on a damp Proctor Park pitch keeps the Mariners two points off the bottom of the State League 1 ladder with one round remaining. More importantly it goes a long way in their bid to play in the same competition tier next season.

The draw helped keep distance between themselves and Nepean FC, who sit at the bottom of the overall club championship table. For Mariners co-captain Brent Osborne, it made sharing the points with Hakoah a welcome outcome.

“We had a chance or two to take the game, but it’s definitely a good result to take points off the top team. They’re valuable for the club championship,” he said.

“There’s a little bit of distance there now, but we’re still not out of the woods. Mathematically they’re still a chance, so we’ve got to take as many points as we can out of next week.”

Mariners did themselves plenty of favours in that relegation battle on Thursday when they handed Nepean a 5-1 defeat.

Now two games of soccer in just three days has turned around what appeared to be a dire situation.

No side ever gained momentum in Saturday night’s match, but both had plenty of chances to make the scoreboard tick over.

The best chance for the Mariners came midway through the second half when Adam Scimone found space down the right wing, but he failed to make his shot count.

It is the first nil-all draw the Mariners have played out this season.

With FFA Cup duties on Tuesday and the premiers’ spot wrapped up, Hakoah rested several players for their trip to Bathurst.

It showed on the field, but Osborne believes the Mariners side has enough skilled players to have been a threat to Hakoah’s full side.

“They rested players, but they’re a squad with depth and they could still bring plenty of talent down. They played as we expected them to using the same system they did last time, but they’re such a strong side,” he said.

“It was just a good battle. It was an even contest throughout, very physical on a greasy pitch. Both sides had their chances, so I’d say a draw was the fair result.

“If we’re able to avoid relegation we’re building towards something over the next few years. Guys like Matt Corben, Kenny McCall and John Henry are all under 20 years old and they’re really maturing as players. We’re building towards the future.”

WESTERN NSW MARINERS FC 0 drew with HAKOAH SYDNEY CITY EAST FC 0