These are the key talking points from Round 23 in the Isuzu UTE A-League.
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Mariners find their groove, regain cavalry at the right time
Back-to-back wins and suddenly the Central Coast Mariners are in business again.
After a lean streak that saw them only win one of their last five going into the international break, the Mariners have suddenly turned a corner and have rediscovered the attacking swagger that made them so hard to stop earlier in the season.
A 4-1 win against Brisbane Roar was backed up by a 3-0 victory over Western United in Ballarat, snapping a 28-game winless run in Victoria that stretched all the way back to 2013.
Central to the turnaround has been the form of their attackers, with Jason Cummings (two goals, one assist), Marco Tulio (one goal, one assist) and Sammy Silvera (one assist) leading the charge in the past fortnight.
Beyond the aforementioned trio, Dylan Wenzel-Halls and Beni Nkololo have also joined in the fun, scoring a goal apiece in the demolition of the reigning champions last Friday.
However, it’s also been the return of key bodies at either end of the field which has helped them return to their exhilarating best.
At one end, the return of first-choice centre-back pairing Brian Kaltak and Nectar Triantis has further solidfied their defensive stocks – conceding only once since they’ve both returned to the lineup.
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Meanwhile, Wenzel-Halls finally made his club debut against Brisbane, after an injury in his first week at the Mariners meant he had to wait almost two months to take the field.
“Yeah, I said last week, we went five or six weeks and we were really low on bodies. But the positive is a lot of young academy boys made their debut,” Coach Nick Montgomery said about the return of key players.
“This is top level football and you got your best players back, fit and available like we have the last two weeks and look we’ve got the bench.
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“Dylan (Wenzel-Halls) coming on, Moresche, Christian Theoharous so for the squad that we have, to have players like that on the bench. Obviously, it’s not easy here when you try to sign players. The boys have to want to come and play and I think you can see that the boys that come off the bench always make an impact and everybody’s happy for each other.
“It’s a good win… we’ve got three three games to go starting with Melbourne City next week at home and that’s a massive game for us.”
The Mariners remain right in the mix for the top-two, sitting only four points behind second-placed Adelaide United heading into the final three games of the season.
Nabbout’s big day at the office
Melbourne City’s front three had some evening at AAMI Park on Easter Monday.
Jamie Maclaren returned to goalscoring form with a brace, Marco Tilio was sensational and also helped himself to a brace, but they have the third member of their high voltage front-line to thank for the silver service.
Andrew Nabbout put in a top-class showing in City’s 4-1 win over Wellington Phoenix, helping himself to a hat-trick of assists.
The 30-year-old was dynamite up and down the flank all evening, running the Wellington defenders ragged from the first minute right until his final contribution in the 82nd minute.
He set up Maclaren twice either side of half-time, before putting it on a platter for Tilio to fire home his opener to double City’s advantage.
Maclaren sung the praises of Nabbout post-game, believing his attacking partner in crime should have been awarded the Isuzu UTE Player of the Match for his efforts instead of himself.
“I disagree, Andy Nabbout three assists had a far better game than me,” he said.
“Look I don’t make those decisions. Credit to Andy and (Marco) Tilio for getting amongst the goals and we felt like ourselves tonight.”
Speaking after the game, City boss Rado Vidosic praised the Socceroo, who is now looking back to his best.
“He is another one who carried a lot of injuries when I first joined the squad, we were nursing him,” he said in his post-match press conference.
“Knock wood, he won’t get any more problems.
“He’s feeling fantastic, he’s training now more regular. He can now last 90 minutes or close to it.
“You can see on his good day he can be a fantastic player for us and for opponents he is a nightmare.”
Top-six scrap set to go down to the wire
With just three rounds to play, the top four spots on the A-League Men table look all-but sewn up. Below the leading quartet is chaos.
Fifth-place Wellington Phoenix have lost three games on the bounce; Sydney FC are in sixth, and without a win in four games.
Below the Sky Blues come five teams from 7th-11th who all end Round 23 within a win of the finals positions, with 11th-placed Macarthur FC just three points behind Sydney in sixth.
WATCH: Incredible drama as Bulls & Wanderers exchange late blows in epic draw
Macarthur may have ended the weekend in eighth if not for a late lapse against Western Sydney Wanderers on Saturday night in one of the most entertaining finishes of the season. With the two sides locked at 1-1, Wanderers striker Kusini Yengi wasted a glorious chance to make it 2-1 with 88 minutes on the clock.
In the first minute of stoppage time, the Bulls made the visitors pay with a 91st-minute goal to Al Hassan Toure, but the action was far from over. Brandon Borrello bagged his second goal of the game five minutes later to rescue a point for the Wanderers in a game which could have ended in any of the three possible results due to a series of key moments at the death.
It was the result of the weekend that best reflected the precarious nature of the table. Holding on for victory would have moved the Bulls to within a point of Sydney FC, level with seventh-placed Perth Glory. A win for the Wanderers, meanwhile, would have sent Marko Rudan’s side level on 37 points with Central Coast Mariners in third.
Does ‘sore’ Goodwin need a pre-finals rest?
During last month’s international window, Craig Goodwin made two starts in two games for the Socceroos and returned to Adelaide United with his lingering osteitis pubis injury inflamed.
Ahead of Round 23, Reds head coach Carl Veart expressed his surprise at the national side’s use of his captain across the two friendlies, and after Adelaide’s 1-1 draw with Sydney FC on Friday night, Goodwin detailed how the international camp had impacted his fitness.
“To be honest, I’m a bit sore,” Goodwin told Paramount+. “Probably a little bit from that Marvel (Stadium) pitch.
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“With the cricket pitch in the middle (of Marvel Stadium) it was very hard and then soft in the other areas, so it’s put a lot of stress on my (osteitis pubis).
“That’s a part of football. But it would be nice if the pitches were a bit cleaner going into those matches.”
The Reds have a home clash against Western United on Sunday, April 16, before a road trip to face Perth on the 23rd, with their last game of the season set for April 28 in Adelaide against Central Coast. With their place in the finals assured, is it time for Veart to consider resting his captain for a revitalised push to the finals?
Roar interim boss takes a share of history
On Saturday afternoon, Brisbane Roar interim head coach Nick Green went where only one Brisbane Roar manager had ever gone before after orchestrated a convincing 3-0 triumph over Newcastle Jets.
It was Green’s third home fixture in charge of the club, and third victory. Only one Roar manager had ever achieved that feat prior: John Aloisi in 2015.
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It’s been an encouraging start to life for the Roar under Green; Brisbane began the weekend on the foot of the table, but a cruising victory over the Jets strengthened belief of an unlikely foray to the finals for the Queenslanders.
As Green took a share of Roar history, his star man went one step closer to claiming his own place in the record books.
Jay O’Shea scored the second of Brisbane’s three goals, in what was his fifth consecutive game finding the back of the net. Only two players had reached that milestone in club history prior to O’Shea: Jamie Maclaren (five games) and Besart Berisha (six games).
AAMI Park pitch overshadows Victory-Glory clash
Melbourne Victory and Perth Glory played out a 0-0 draw on a cold and windy afternoon in Melbourne on Sunday.
All eyes were on the AAMI Park surface, which was visibly worn out amid a busy playing schedule at the venue.
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There was Wednesdays’ resumed Melbourne Derby, Thursday night’s NRL game and a Super Rugby doubleheader on Saturday before Victory and Glory went head-to-head on Easter Sunday, and the state of the pitch impacted the spectacle.
“Terrible, a terrible pitch,” Victory head coach Tony Popovic said after his team were denied a 97th-minute penalty as they were left four points adrift of the top six.
“Not conducive to A-League standards.”
Seventh-placed Glory frustrated Victory and moved within a point of sixth-placed Sydney FC.
“It wasn’t until I walked across the pitch at the end of the game that I could see just how bad it was in some areas,” Glory boss Ruben Zadkovich told reporters.
“It was very, very difficult and not conducive to a tidy football game. We’re a team that likes to play through the thirds and build up our plays.
“It made it difficult because we want to play through in midfield and bounce out to wide areas.”
The following day, Melbourne City and Wellington Phoenix played at the same venue with the league leaders coming away 4-1 victors.
City attacker Marco Tilio slipped on the surface inside the opening 20 seconds of the game, while Wellington defender Joshua Laws almost turned it over in the first-half after slip of his own.
Both coaches were asked about the state of the pitch on Easter Monday.
“It was not safe. There was a fear that someone may get injured tackling – there were a few tackles,” City boss Rado Vidosic said.
“Okay, the red card was a high foot which was a little bit unfortunate but I think we deserve to play on a better surface. That’s all that I can say.”
Meanwhile, Wellington coach Ufuk Talay wouldn’t get drawn into the discussion surrounding the pitch.
“The surface is the surface at the end of the day. It was green, it had grass on it. The opposition had to deal with it. It is what it is,” he said.
“No one got hurt at the end of the day. So I think it was quite ok.”
