With three matches to play in the regular season, the Central Coast Mariners Men's A-League team have moved to the top of the ladder after defeating Wellington Phoenix by 2 goals to 1.
The match was worthy of teams in 1st versus 2nd positions leading into the match, although the Mariners seemed to have the better oportunities in the first half. Doka, Kuol and Torres all had chances that did not result in goals.
The best of these came from the feet of Doka after Phoenix conceded a free kick outside the penalty box. Doka and Torres stood over the ball discussing options that eventually was taken by Doka whose shot curled, striking the right-hand post.
The score at half-time was level at 0-0.
Both teams continued to pressure the opposition defence but it was the homeside that struck first in the 61st minute. A beautiful through ball from Mikael Doka to Storm Roux on the right found the defender in space. The resulting cross from Roux was lethal, finding a diving Angel Torres whose header found the bottom right-hand corner of the goal.
This goal seemend to spur the visitors on who started to have more chances than the Mariners. This pressure eventually resulted in Phoenix leveling with Ben Old scoring in the 78th minute.
Phoenix scoring brought the crowd of just under 10,000 into action, who become more vocal. In turn, this resulted in the Mariners players lifting. The Mariners began dominating in attack and just when the game seemed destined for a draw like the earlier mid-week game, a piece of brillance from an individual resulted in a goal to put the Mariners in front. It was the first minute of extra time when Mikael Doka received the ball in midfield, beating one Phoenix defender and shot from just outside the penalty box. The shot beat three other defenders and the Phoenix goalkeeper to put the Mariners in the lead.
This win puts the Mariners on same points as Phoenix (46) but has the Mariners on top as they have had 14 wins compared to 13 for the Phoenix.
The Mariners Men's opponents next weekend are Western United with the game to be played at Ironbark Fields in Tarneit, Victoria. Kick-off is scheduled for 3:30pm on Saturday, 13th April.