Now or never for Central Coast Mariners against Guizhou Renhe
Central Coast Mariners have had a tough match schedule over the last few weeks balancing their A-League commitments with the travel and additional matches required of them in the Asian Champions League. It’s not about to let up either as they face Guizhou Renhe in their third ACL 2013 fixture tomorrow night at fortress bluetongue. With their only loss at home this season to the now Premiership winners, Western Sydney Wanderers, Mariners have every right to feel confident of keeping their ACL chances alive with a home win.
Last ACL match day they travelled to Japan to face Kashiwa Reysol and were unlucky to walk away 3-1 losers. While they did succumb to the class of the Japanese powerhouse’s big name and big money stars, they were in no way disgraced and the score line was perhaps not reflective of how close they came to getting an unlikely result after travelling so far.
The Mariners last ACL match at Bluetongue was against Suwon Bluewings and they were very unlucky not to take all three points in that fixture with the Suwon goalkeeper pulling off a sensational save to deny the Mariners the points. Nick Montgomery was unlucky not to secure the win with his late penalty but there was no doubting the Mariners dominance of the match. With our young players lifting the Mariners confidence plus Daniel McBreen removing the penalty hoodoo with an emphatic strike from the spot against the Melbourne Heart on the weekend and a host of players rested, Central Coast fans can be confident of the Mariners putting in a top shelf performance tomorrow night.
As usual, the Asian Football Confederation scheduling means many Mariners fans will be unable to attend the match, as they won’t be home from their daily work commute, but this should have little effect on the performance of the teams stars after Graham Arnold opted to play a number of our more youthful players in the final round of the A-League last weekend. Redemption will be on the minds of the players and they will be fired up to prove they have plenty to offer in the ACL despite languishing at the bottom of the Group H table on equal points with Guizhou, with both sides managing just a point from their first two ACL starts. In reality it’s now or never for the Mariners though, as failure to secure all three points in this home fixture could spell the end of their 2013 ACL campaign.
First team stars rested over the weekend included Josh Rose, John Hutchinson, Nick Montgomery, Michael McGlinchey, Trent Sainsbury, Bernie Ibini and Matt Ryan. This should have the team feeling fresh after the recent travel and match schedule and will perfectly position them to get some all-important momentum going as they eye the first home final of the A-League calendar on Sunday week. The positive performances of several of the younger players over the weekend will leave Graham Arnold with plenty of options as the remaining ACL fixtures and the A-League finals approach.
While Guizhou have a number of quality players and no doubt have a budget well above the Central Coast Mariners, that will count for little if the re-invigorated players can put on the quality of performance they have become known for all this A-League season. The speed and guile of Bernie Ibini, the trickery and quality of World Cup and Olympic player Michael McGlinchey and the pure talent of Socceroo Matthew Ryan will all be on show again and will be as tough for Guizhou as anything the Chinese FA cup winners can throw at them. The Mariners also boast the experience of two previous ACL campaigns to call upon where Guizhou Renhe are making their tournament debut, and this could prove a key ingredient tomorrow night. No side in the ACL tournament is easy to beat but away from home and up against a rested, in form Central Coast team at their home fortress, Guizhou will have their work cut out for them.
Of critical importance for the Central Coast will be starting well and if they can score first, I think they can make it very difficult for the Chinese side to mount a comeback. Allowing the opposition to score first though will make for a massive challenge for the Mariners as we all know Asian sides have a tendency to revert to delays, feigning injury and other time wasting tactics when presented the opportunity to use them.
If the Mariners manage victory tomorrow night they would be propelled to an excellent position before travelling to Guizhou in China for the reverse leg next week (9th April) then returning home to face unknown opposition in their A-League Semi-Final.
My prediction is the Mariners to win and make a statement that they are not done in this year’s ACL just yet.
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