Can Central Coast maintain the pressure on the Wanderers premiership claims?

The Central Coast Mariners have travelled to Adelaide for tonight’s match and take on Adelaide United when they will be desperate to wrest third position on the ladder from Melbourne Victory. If for no other reason than the bragging rights of the final ladder position, Adelaide United will be looking to take advantage and leap frog Victory by two points after Victory were unable to contain Perth Glory last night.

Coming off a home draw with Newcastle Jets where controversy and referee’s decisions seemed to dominate the headlines, Adelaide will be fired up to recover lost ground. While neither team dominated the game, the Reds having a goal disallowed in the final minutes when the game was in the balance will perhaps feel aggrieved at walking away with just a point. On the other hand Newcastle would have justifiable grounds for complaint given they appeared to have goals disallowed for off-side where on replays they appeared legitimate.

The Mariners on the other hand took on Brisbane at home and after a lively start by the visitors were able to gain control of the match in the first half. During a thirty minute spell of quality and dominance, they managed to grab the ascendancy with a beautifully taken Bernie Ibini finish. Both sides traded blows as the second half played out but despite placing plenty of pressure on the Mariners tight defence, Brisbane were never really able to seriously threaten the scorer. Home fans shortened their fingernails in the stands as the clock wound down but to their great relief the Mariners returned to the winners list.

Hindmarsh was not the prettiest picture last week for the Adelaide v Jets game and this is a factor which will have an effect on both teams ability to knock the ball around and take advantage of their team member’s individual quality. It’s not often the case at Hindmarsh Stadium but for whatever reason the surface looked pretty poor and if this remains the case this week, it will not be a helper to the possession based tactics of the Central Coast.

With Matt Ryan and Eugene Galekovic both away on Socceroo duty at the moment, there should be a relatively even effect on the starting line ups. Both sides will be looking to gain some all-important momentum as the closing rounds of the competition tick away and they prepare for their respective finals tilts, so the game should be a cracker despite both already being assured of finals appearances. Justin Pasfield will come into the side but this should make little difference as he sits behind one of the most dominant defences in the A-League.

For my money, the Mariners have remained in great form and despite having “the week from hell” in the off-field stakes deserve to go into the match as firm favourites. While these things can have a massive effect on the players, coach Graham Arnold’s man management methodologies are unquestionable and he should have the team primed for the game despite that. Having not been beaten by the Reds in the last three years of A-League encounters, the boys should be rightly confident they can walk away with another win and keep the pressure on the Western Sydney Wanderers claims for the Premiership.

My prediction is another tough match, but the Mariners to prevail by at least a goal.

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