The Central Coast Mariners stumbled to lose their home game against Mcarthur FC 2- 3 on Sunday afternoon, in a game characterised by passion and a flood of yellow and red cards.
Crowds of families had gathered early for the mid-afternoon game as the light rain gently fell across the beautiful palm tree lined stadium in Gosford.
A relaxed confidence was in the air, coming on the back of the Mariners’ recent wins against top rivals Western Sydney Wanderers and Western United.
Many fans were there to help send off three Central Coast players Kuol, Cummings and Vukovic before they headed off to the World Cup in Qatar later that week.
The Mariners once again dominated play early on in the wet conditions though, an all-too-easy goal in the 14th minute by Macarthur striker Al Hassan Toure gave the away side a real boost.
When in the 31st minute the newly signed Vanuatu international Brian Kaltak was red-carded for what some saw as a tough defensive tackle the crowd and the team were dismayed.
The Vanuatu international defender was set packing for denying a goalscoring chance to the MacArthur striker.
Both teams fought hard for domination up to half time though it looked like the home side had the game under control.
Then just minutes into the second half another goal was scored by the visitors when one of Macarthur’s tall man Jonathan Aspropotamitis headed a goal home from a great corner.
Strangely with the Mariners 0, 2 down things didn’t feel devastating particularly when Garang Kuol and Sammy Silvera were subbed on at the 54th minute.
The two players immediately made their presence felt with Silvera dribbling into the box to find Cummings who slotted it away, though offside was called. Cummings then had a penalty as recompense, only to be saved by Macarthur’s keeper Nicholas Suman.
Then it was Garang Kuol’s turn, when the rising star was felled just inside the box, the ref waiting until there was clear no-advantage before blowing the whistle.
Garang made no mistake, slotting the dead ball kick into the net, to bring the Mariners back into the game.
Not long after the young Garang made an incredible run down the right hand side that resulted in a stunning goal from a seemly impossible angle. That goal alone has many Australian football commentators excited about what the youngster could do at the World Cup.
The goal also bought the home side 2 – 2 and another winning comeback was on the cards.
Though alas it was not to be, while the Mariners were on the constant offensive and one player down an opening developed against the run of play with a long ball finding Macarthur’s Jed Drew who sent it to the back of the net in the dying minute of the game.
The final result 2- 3, a real let down for the local crowd with coach Mongomery obviously frustrated with the final result.
Though true to Monty’s football philosophy he praised the effort of his team and the opponents, vowing to come back with a bang after the world cup was over.
David Abrahams