The Central Coast Mariners come away with all three points and the F3 Derby Trophy.
The game played on Saturday, April 22nd did not start favourably for the Mariners with Newcastle's Sotirio scoring in the 9th minute to give the home side an early lead from a well taken corner.
Newcastle continued to have the advantage with both teams missing some opportunities.
In the 27th minute, a long ball from Mariner's defender Triantis was not dealt with by ex-Mariner and Newcastle defender Aquilina. The ball was gathered by Sam Silvera who beat Aquilina to the ball with pace, pushing into the penalty box and scored from an acute angle to level the score at 1-1.
The score remained at 1-1 at half-time.
The Mariners continued to push hard and dominate against the Jets with Sam Silvera scoring a second in the 57th minute. A subtle chip by Tulio with the outside of his right foot to beat two Newcastle defenders put Silvera into space in the penalty box. Silvera beat a Newcastle defender to slot the ball home to give the Mariners a 2-1 lead.
In the 60th minute Newcastle were reduced to 10 players when Brandon O'Neill fouled Silvera, earning his second yellow card for the afternoon.
The Mariners scored a third goal in the 69th. This time it was McGarry who worked his way into the penalty box for the ball to deflect off a Newcastle defender onto his own leg. Fortunately, the box landed directly to the feet of Tulio who easily scored past the Newcastle goalkeeper.
The scoring may have finished at this stage but the action did not. In the 94th minute, a through ball from Nisbet to Cummings resulted in Newcastle defender Jenkinson fouling Cummings. The referee ruled that he was last defender and issued a straight red card.
The Mariners next game and the last for the regular home-away season is against Adelaide United in Adelaide on Friday, April 29th. Kick-off is 7:45pm AEST.
This will be a crucial match for the Mariners. Adelaide are currently 2nd on the ladder but only 1 point ahead of the Mariners.
This game is also being played at the same time as the Melbourne City versus Western Sydney Wanderers game (1st vs 4th) with the Wanderers on the same points as the Mariners.
The results of these two games will decide which teams make up the 2nd, 3rd and 4th positions on the ladder for season 2022/23 and who will play in elimination finals the following weekend.
The team that finishes second after this weekend's matches will earn a week off before playing a home and away semi-final leg on May 13th/14th and May 20th/21st.