The Central Coast Mariners have pulled off an unlikely win against their regional rivals the Newcastle Jets on Wednesday night’s F3 Derby match at Industree Group Stadium in Gosford.
The 3 – 0 win to the Central Coast team was a marked turnaround from the last F3 Derby only the week before when the Jets defeated the Mariners 2 – 1.
The win has propelled the local team into the third spot on the national Isuzu UTE A-league Men ladder just behind Western Sydney Wanderers and the dominant Melbourne City.
The match was a physical affair between the two regional teams though the Mariners were clearly more confident.
A breakthrough came in the 22nd minute after some lazy Jets play in the middle of the field, when youngster Jacob Farrell snatched the ball, slotting to Brazillian Marco Tulio in the process.
The Jets goalkeeper Jack Duncan was off his line when the Brazilian took aim, firing a potshot from over 40 metres away.
His incredible shot sailed over Duncan before dipping in under the post, establishing a 1 – 0 scoreline for the home side.
The Jets came out of the change rooms with renewed energy with a spirited attack that was only stopped by the head of the tall roving Mariners defender Brian Kaltack.
In the 63rd minute, Kaltack pushed it to Tulio, who in turn gave Cummings space in front of goal to give the striker another goal in his growing season tally.
Then, in the 87th minute, the Mariners were awarded a penalty following a Newcastle handball in the box.
Whilst not at first called by the on ground referee, the VAR intervention replay showed the touch, with the ref pointing to the penalty spot.
A cool and collected Beni Nkololo sent Jets keeper Duncan the wrong way, pounding in the third home team goal for the evening.
A good local crowd of 7,000 fans fronted up to the pre-Christmas match, including many families and devoted supporters and lovers of the game – something the league will be happy about considering the violent scenes in Melbourne over the weekend.
The Mariners now face a formidable couple of games over the coming weeks.
First up is the Tuesday game against league leaders Melbourne City in Melbourne before the New Year’s Eve game against Melbourne Victory.
Fans are advised to secure their New Year’s Eve tickets well before game day to speed up entry to the ground on the night.
David Abrahams