The Central Coast Mariners have proven their wet weather credentials, sending Brisbane Roar packing after a confident 4-1 win in Gosford on Saturday evening, April 1.
The game marked captain/keeper Danny Vukovic’s 300th game in the A-League.
The young Mariners team celebrated in style by scoring goals three goals in the first half, after Vukovic saved an early free kick strike by The Roar.
After that close call, the team lifted with the first Mariners goal coming only 15 minutes into the first half by Brazillian striker Marco Tulio.
The momentum continued unabated with the home side dominating the Brisbane rivals on most challenges.
Goals number two and three were delivered by Josh Nisbet and Max Balard respectively.
The local fans were in football paradise at halftime despite the cool autumn rain bucketing down.
The second half saw a spirited home side run onto the park and it wasn’t long before the Mariners’ cannon went off with a bang again.
This time it was the team’s super goal scorer Jason Cummings who took a penalty after a hand ball in the box.
Cummings has made an art of successful penalty shots and this one was no exception, taking the score to 4-0.
Things were looking good at this point, though captain Vukovic still had his work cut out for him after a quality strike on goal from the Brisbane outfit.
Coach Nick Montgomery characteristically rotated his squad to give as much game time as possible to his players.
Among them was new Mariners recruit Dylan Wenzel-Halls, subbed on for Cummings who received great applause from the home crowd.
The Roar was awarded a penalty by the VAR in the 80th minute, despite the referee initially ruling against a deflection that had hit the arm of Brian Kaltak.
Brisbane’s Jay O’Shea slotted it past captain Vukovic to muddy the clean score sheet.
The win brings the Mariners back up to the third spot on the Isuzu-UTE A-League ladder, just ahead of the Western Sydney Wanderers.
The Mariners hit the road next week with a trip to face Western United in Ballarat on Good Friday, before heading home to take on the dominant league leaders Melbourne City on Saturday, April 15 at Industree Group Stadium.
David Abrahams