The Central Coast Mariners put on a dominant display of football to thrash Adelaide United in Gosford at Industree Group Stadium on Saturday. The 4 -0 win cements the team into the second spot on the ISUZU-Ute A-League ladder behind Melbourne City, yet ahead of all their other national rivals.
The local boys came out fighting from kick-off, asserting themselves in a way a top-level team does to weaker rivals.
The midfield was a Mariners’ bastion dominated by local players Josh Nisbet and Harry Steele in a way that kept feeding balls accurately to wingers Thomas Aquilina and the young Jacob Farrell.
This strategy finally paid dividends in the 30th minute of the game when Silvera had a bold shot from 20-metre range, grazing Adelaide United player Popovic’s legs, diverting past keeper Joe Gauci to land at the back of the net for the first goal of the evening.
The Mariners kept pushing past their rivals to threaten more goals, though the strong Adelaide defence kept the local side at bay until halftime.
Adelaide came out swinging in the second half, though the exuberance got the better of Spaniard Isaias who felled Jacob Farell with a dangerous tackle to be immediately red-carded and sent packing.
The local side pivoted on their rivals’ misfortune and went on the attack again.
Silvera again picked up a great pass to strike on target, his shot bounced off Gauci, to Silvera again before dropping at the feet of Beni Nkololo who made it 2 -0 for the Mariners just 3 minutes into the second half.
A third Mariners goal came soon after when a cross from Marco Tulio deflected off an Adelaide defender to give the home side a 3-0 lead.
Then it was Jacob’s turn when Silvera passed a neat ball through to an in-position Farrell, who took the chip shot past the keeper and defences to notch the score up to 4 – 0.
Game player Sammy Silvera then picked up a loose ball outside the box, and dribbled it past the Adelaide defence to sink his own goal into the back of the net, yet, the VAR cancelled the goal due to eye-line interference from team-mate Michael Ruhs.
The score line held, and as the players left the field the crowd spontaneously applauded for Sammy Silvera who had been key to the incredible success of the local team.
The Mariners now head off on the road for two away games, first against MacArthur and then Wellington before returning to Gosford to take on Sydney FC on January 28.
David Abrahams