BY THE PALM TREES – Round 18

GOSFORD, AUSTRALIA - OCTOBER 10: Fabio Ferreira of the Mariners celebrates a goal during the round one A-League match between the Central Coast Mariners and the Perth Glory at Central Coast Stadium on October 10, 2015 in Gosford, Australia. (Photo by Ashley Feder/Getty Images)

After such a long time between drinks it was awesome to get ourselves three points on the road. I don’t want to mention how long it has been since the last time we got the away points but it was certainly much longer than it ever should be again!

It really was the proverbial “game of two halves” last weekend. The most annoying and one sided Fox commentary team in the game were on duty for the match (as always in New Zealand) but they sure got one comment right, late in the first half, when they suggested the game was crying out for just a little bit of quality. Those words turned out to be prophetic when that “bit of quality” arrived during the half time interval in the form of Luis Garcia. For the second week in a row the Mariners were a different side once Garcia entered the game. He was good enough to capitalize on a goalkeeping error to start the scoring and then his classy combination with Storm Roux for the Mariners second took control of the game. Late goals from Austin and Powell (for Phoenix) made the scores higher but the result was never in doubt.

It’s great to see the progress the players are making. Wonderful performances from Paul Izzo (my man of the match), Liam Rose (who has grown at least a foot taller since Luis Garcia arrived) and Storm Roux were among the most eye catching parts of our effort against Wellington. Luis Garcia’s contribution was quite simply breathtaking. His amazing back-heeled goal will be remembered for some time. The skeptic pundits who abounded when Garcia was first mentioned are now not seen or have all of a sudden become his biggest admirers.

This weekend we take on the Brisbane roller coaster ride. Coming off a good win over Sydney FC the Roar look like a very tough proposition but their two previous performances were average at best. It really depends which Brisbane turns up to play this weekend. The return of Olyroo’s players had a fair impact on Brisbane’s return to form last weekend so the Roar will undoubtedly be tough to beat, particularly playing at home.

For the Mariners the growth of the team since the New Year has been positive for fans and the arrival of Luis Garcia have been a great circuit breaker to what has been our worst season to date. While we can’t have any expectations about the finals this season, we can still keep some hope of easing our way from the bottom of the table and this is great encouragement for our fans. Finishing the season with a positive outlook will be just the tonic we need to look for better next season.

Last weekend I predicted a draw and we exceeded my expectation with a long awaited away win. Brisbane has been too good for me to predict a win for our boys but we are showing signs of improvement so same as last week I am going to go a hopeful draw. Brisbane 2, Mariners 2