Tonight in front of around 6,500 loyal and brave fans in cold and wet conditions, the Central Coast Mariners Men became 2023/24 Premiers by beating Adelaide United 2 goals to nil.
This is the Mariners 3rd Premiers Plate trophy since the A-League started. Previous honours for winning the Premiership were in 2007/8 and 2011/12.
The game started well for the Mariners who came extremely close to scoring in the first few minutes. However, it is was the visitors who dominated play for most of the first 30 minutes. A number of excellent saves by Mariners goalkeeper/captain Danny Vukovic kept the Mariners in the game and Adelaide scoreless.
As the game progressed, the Mariners worked their way back into the game and it was in the 36th minute when the Mariners scored their first goal. A free kick was awarded wide on the left wing at Adelaide's end of the field when Christian Theoharous was fouled. The resulting free kick was taken by Mikael Doka with it finding Jacob Farrell towards the back of the pack. Farrell was able to get a header past the Adelaide keeper into the bottom left corner of the goal.
With the Mariners ahead with a 1-0 scoreline at half-time, they came back on to the field looking like their usual self with some attacking raids and slick passing in the wet conditions.
In the 76th minute, the Mariners were to get their second goal from an Adelaide error. Adelaide's goalkeeper Ethan Cox passed the ball to fellow team member Ethan Alagich at the top of the box. Mariners midfielder Max Balard was wise to the pass and when Alagich was unable to control the ball, Balard stripped it from him and converted his chance for his 3rd goal of the season.
The Mariners continued to pressure Adelaide looking for a third goal while the visitors did likewise at the other end to try to get back into the game. Neither side could add to the scoreline.
The win places the Mariners Men at the top of the table, 2 points clear of Wellington Phoenix.
The Mariners now earn a week off from A-League action with their next match scheduled for the weekend of May 11th/12th when they will play the first leg of the A-League Men's semi-final. This will be an away game for the Mariners. Their opposition, match date, venue and kick-off time will not be known until the Elimination Finals are palyed this coming weekend.
The second leg of the Semi-Final is currently scheduled to be played at Industree Group Stadium on Saturday 18th May with kick-off at 7:45pm.
In the meantime, the Mariners Men fly out tomorrow for Oman for their AFC Cup Final against Al Ahed FC from Lebanon. Match is scheduled for Monday 6th May with kick-off at 2am Australian Eastern Time.