The Central Coast Mariners pulled off a stunning 3-1 comeback win against Newcastle on Saturday afternoon, April 22, at McDonald Jones Stadium.
A big contingent of Mariners fans found their way to Newcastle after a call out from the club to support the team in the run-up to the finals series.
From the kick off, the Jets were fired up and on a mission to win the derby game and teach their Central Coast rivals how to play derby football.
The Mariners have learnt to respect the Newcastle Jets in the F3 derby, the oldest and most hard fought derby in the national A-league competition.
Within nine minutes, the Mariners’ fears were confirmed when the Jets hammered home a goal to open the scoring.
Mariners fans fell silent as the roar of the Jets supporters filled the stadium.
The shock seemed to wake up the young Central Coast team who now adopted a “won’t back down” mantra to hit back through in-form striker Sammy Silvera in the 28th minute.
The game was very much up for grabs at this point as the home side kept firing shots on target, only to be repeatedly denied by the heroic efforts of Mariners Captain-keeper Danny Vukovic.
The score remained at one apiece at halftime, with Mariners fans knowingew the next half of football may decide whether their team’s standing on the league ladder would earn them a home stadium finals match.
The second half was another game entirely.
The Central Coast team came out of the change rooms invigorated and ready to claim a victory.
Though Newcastle began the second half assertively with a couple of good shots on target, Mariners captain Danny Vukovic made brilliant saves to keep the scores level.
After those scares the Mariners took full control of the game, with in-form striker Sammy Silvera once again the key to success.
After a supremely confident defensive play from Klatak, Sammy Silvera danced through the Jets’ midfield with the assistance of young James McGarry and Marco Tulio to calmly slot away the Mariners’ second goal in the 58th minute.
The Jets were reduced to 10 men after a professional foul on Silvera who looked likely to score again.
The Central Coast team took advantage of the situation with a flurry of attacks on goal from Nkololo, McGarry and Tulio.
Then a deflected shot on goal from McGarry fell at the feet of Tulio who paused, aimed and slotted away the third goal for the Mariners in the 69th minute.
The Jets continued to push hard for a comeback, thwarted by strong defence from Nectar Triantis and Brian Kaltak together with quick responses from keeper Vukovic.
The Mariners also kept pushing for another goal, with Jason Cummings and Nisbet coming close without finding a way past the efforts of the Jets’ keeper.
Kaltak was awarded a free kick in the 80th minute from the edge of the penalty area but the strike went wide.
The hard-fought win over the Jets gave the Mariners a sweet victory in the F3 Derby and gave Nick Montgomery his fifth win in six games as head coach.
The Mariners will now take on Adelaide United in Adelaide for the last game of the regular season.
A win in South Australia would push the Mariners into second on the ladder, and a loss would open the possibility of Western Sydney dragging the Mariners down to fourth position.
David Abrahams