WESTERN NSW Mariners FC had their impressive winning streak come to an end on Saturday night, going down 1-0 to men’s State League 1 rivals Granville Rage in Mudgee.

Having played encouraging soccer over the past two weeks to earn a draw and a win in the Football NSW competition as well as advancing to the fourth round of the FFA Cup, the Mariners spent a majority of Saturday’s match unsuccessfully trying to chase an equaliser.

Despite Granville’s lowly standing on the table going into the match, they were a side Mariners coach Andrew Fearnley felt were much better than that position suggested.

He was correct.

Mariners striker Ricky Guihot said it was slow start that cost his side.

“We started pretty sluggish for about the first 25 minutes of the first half. We never really got into a rhythm. It took us a while to find our feet and we didn’t pick out their structure too well,” he said.

“They scored about halfway through that opening half and that seemed to spur us into life. We then came out and dominated the second half, but they were happy to rest and hold on to their 1-0 lead.

“We just didn’t take opportunities when they came.”

Not only did Granville look the more threatening side after the opening whistle was blown, the Mariners lost Kane Hughes early with a hamstring injury.

Nenos Bobo eventually capitalised on the visitors’ pressure to give Rage the lead.

There were plenty of chances for the Mariners to draw level, with notable ones for Mitch Rooke and Guihot late, but they were unable to find the back of the net.

Still, Guihot is happy with the vibe around the Mariners camp five rounds into the season.

“If you compare where we are to where we were this stage of the season in our last two years under the Mariners’ badge, there’s no way we were travelling as well then as we are now,” he said.

“That’s about our fifth outing against them and it’s the closest we’ve ever come to beating them. It’s the form of our younger guys that’s the most encouraging thing, guys like Mitch Rooke and John Henry.”

GRANVILLE RAGE 1 (Nenos Bobo) defeated WESTERN NSW MARINERS FC 0