By the Palm Trees – Central Coast Mariners vs Brisbane Roar
The Mariners take on Brisbane Roar tonight at Central Coast Stadium and it’s a great feeling, as the weekend approaches, knowing the working week ends enjoying a night at the football.
Friday night (night matches in general) have been few and far between in Gosford this season as the foibles of the current A-League draw this year ram home Fox Sports sidelining of our market because we can’t produce big enough TV audiences for their lopsided likings. To be fair there were plenty of conflicting forces around the sporting landscape – Asian Cup, Cricket World Cup etc. so it was never easy. Having said that the loss of many night matches and the iconic New Year’s Eve match, as well as playing home matches in the North Metro area (or attempting to do so) have all hurt the interest among our fan base.
Only the most one eyed of Mariners fans would believe we were really deserving of the three points collected last weekend when Adelaide visited Central Coast Stadium. Our defensive performance was reasonable (an improvement on the disastrous Sydney FC visit) but we still have plenty of work to do if we want to show we have anything in the final third of the pitch. It was a mixed night really. An average (at best) performance was watched by a season low crowd which provided little atmosphere to encourage the boys. Despite this, the pleasing thing was the players resolve to not give in. Remaining in the contest until late in the match was a mammoth effort for them against an Adelaide side I rate the equal of any other team in the A-League this season. Disappointing was the presence of Fabio Ferreira while an absurd gentleman’s agreement prevented him from being part of the action. Pleasing was seeing the debuts of seventeen year olds Anthony Kalik and Liam Rose. These kids have been performing well as key elements of the Mariners National Youth League team and it’s wonderful to see more young fella’s getting their chance in the A-League at our club. Mixed feelings can only describe my thoughts around the departure of another product of Mariners development – Mitch Duke, who deserves the opportunity to prove his abilities in the J-League after departing to Japanese outfit Shimazu S-Pulse in the aftermath of the match.
The equation for tonight is pretty simple to me – win and put ourselves in close contention for the up for grabs sixth position with the potential for finals football. Lose and our A-League season is likely about ensuring we leave Newcastle Jets and Western Sydney Wanderers fighting out the wooden spoon.
Brisbane have ridden the rollercoaster this season with plenty of mixed performances themselves. Their last start was more positive but like ourselves, they’ve established little consistency and will be kidding themselves if they’re coming to Gosford certain of getting a result. They will however be acutely aware of the fact that taking the points tonight puts them in pole position to take the last A-League finals position.
In our own backyard I’m hoping Fabio Ferreira will be fresh, injury free and fired up after sitting with the fans last week. Critical to success will be his combinations with our playmakers – Anthony Caceres or possibly Glen Trifiro. At the same time, maintaining the improvement trajectory our defence begun last weekend will be a must. In this vein if my man of the match last week, Jacob Poscoliero can improve upon his excellent performance at the same time as Nick Montgomery maintaining the great shift he put in, we’ll go a fair way to achieving the goal.
My prediction – Mariners by 1
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