Three goals in the last 15 minutes have seen Central Coast finish off its pre-season fixtures in style through a 3-0 victory over a Tasmanian Select XI side on a cold winters’ night in Hobart on Tuesday.
In the first match involving a Hyundai A-League side to be played in the Tasmanian capital, the Mariners withstood a brave challenge from their opponents at the King George V Ground.
But the Tasmanian’s resistance was finally broken in the 76th minute as Matt Simon chipped opposition goalkeeper Nathan Pitchford, before left-winger Oliver Bozanic and Adam Kwasnik added the finishing touches in the 80th and 91st minutes respectively.
From the outset, the Mariners jumped from the blocks as Nik Mrdja saw his shot blocked within the first 30 seconds.
Tasmanian forward Marcelo Marchioli soon brought the 2000-strong crowd to their feet as he created a good chance from a swift counter-attack, but the striker could only blaze over.
Fresh from his Mariners’ debut against the Victory over the weekend, Argentine Patricio Perez saw a powerful long-range effort denied by the woodwork before former Fury and Perth Glory man Daniel McBreen saw one attempt deflected away and another point-blank header well saved by Pitchford before half-time.
Tasmania came close to taking the lead soon after the break as Pedj Bojic was forced to clear the ball on the line after Liam Scott chipped Mariners’ stopper Matthew Ryan.
But the Central Coast side soon upped the ante once again as Mrdja struck the crossbar before the Mariners opened the scoring 14 minutes from time.
The hard-working McBreen started the move, slipping the ball across for Simon to chip the ball over Pitchford.
Four minutes later, Bozanic tapped the ball home to double the advantage before McBreen’s late pass found Kwasnik a minute into added time, the veteran nodding home the third to complete a good work-out for Graham Arnold’s men.
“It-s been a pretty long pre-season and they just want to get started with the Hyundai A-League,” coach Arnold admitted after the match.
“The first half was very sloppy, but I expected that after Melbourne Victory on Sunday, 48 hours after a game is normally when players are most likely to be flat.”
