Sydney snatch 1-0 win over Mariners in ALW semi-final

Ante Juric will give captain Princess Ibini every chance to feature for Sydney FC in the second leg of their A-League Women semi-final after the Sky Blues took a 1-0 lead in the tie with a win over Central Coast Mariners.

A cool second-half strike from Mackenzie Hawkesby helped Sydney seal victory in front of 4014 at Industree Group Stadium in Gosford on Sunday to move Juric’s side to within touching distance of a seventh-straight grand final.

But the availability of Ibini for the return leg at Leichhardt Oval next Saturday will be a big plotline over the next week after the fringe Matildas forward failed to return for the second half.

Juric said the eight-cap Australia international had dislocated her shoulder.

Princess Ibini failed to re-appear for the second-half of Sydney’s win at Central Coast. (Steven Markham/AAP PHOTOS)

“She’s been landing on her shoulder the last couple of years and it pops out,” Juric said.

“(The substitution) was just precautionary, it’s not usually a long-term thing.

“A couple of years ago it was just two or three weeks but rarely longer than that … we’ll have to find out how bad it is.”

Juric was pleased with how his side responded to the dogged Mariners after Hawkesby’s opener, but was less than complimentary when his team had a corner overturned while chasing a second goal.

Sydney striker Shea Connors and Central Coast’s Ashley Irwin collided inside the Mariners’ box and referee Isabella Mossin signalled for a corner when the ball went out of play.

As Irwin stayed down for treatment, replays on the big screen showed Connors had taken the final touch, leading Mossin to overturn the decision.

VAR is not available in the ALW and Juric, who was booked for protesting, was worried the incident set a dangerous precedent.

Central Coast’s Ashley Irwin slides in to challenge Shea Connors of Sydney FC. (Steven Markham/AAP PHOTOS)

“I don’t know how you make a decision like that because you saw it on the big screen,” he said.

“If we have VAR, then use it … if not then you can’t just change your mind because you’ve seen it back 10 times.

“That disappoints me, because Cortnee Vine had her shirt pulled back – but I shouldn’t have reacted the way I did.”

Sydney did not have things all their own way in the first half, with Wurigumula and Kyah Simon going close to putting the Mariners ahead.

But Simon’s errant backpass led to Hawkesby scoring in the 54th minute and, after taking the lead, Sydney withstood a Mariners onslaught to take a 1-0 advantage into the second leg.

“On other days we take those chances – but it’s one game down and it’s all to play for,” Mariners coach Emily Husband said.

“Not only did we compete but the problems we caused … I’m ready and raring to go for that second game already.”