KEEPUP followed along LIVE to bring you all the goals, highlights, up-to-date scores and biggest talking points from Central Coast Mariners’ 2-1 win over Adelaide United at Coopers Stadium on Saturday night.
Jason Cummings delivered the match-winning moment at Coopers Stadium – and then, in the changerooms post-game, delivered a heartwarming tribute that proved from the moment he arrived in Adelaide, he knew he’d find the back of the net.
The Central Coast Mariners striker bagged his 17th goal of the 2022-23 Isuzu UTE A-League season to give his side a 2-1 advantage over Adelaide United in the first of a two-legged Semi Final on Saturday night.
It was the goal that ultimately sealed a momentous win on the road, giving the second-place finishers the ascendancy heading into leg two back at the Mariners’ home on May 20.
In the aftermath of the road victory, Cummings dedicated his vital strike to his granddad, his “biggest supporter.”
And on his birthday, no less!
“It was on the right foot as well, I didn’t hit it clean,” Cummings told Network 10, reflecting on his match-winner. “But it went in and I was delighted to score.
“It’s actually my granddad’s birthday today, and I said I’d score for him. So that was for my granddad.
“He watches all my games, and he’s always been my biggest supporter since I was a kid – so that goal was for him.”
ADVANTAGE MARINERS! Monty’s men come from behind to beat Adelaide in thrilling Semi Final first leg
Cummings’ goal was the third in a breathless first half, with the Mariners coming from one goal down to win the first leg of an intense Semi Final.
Adelaide burst out of the blocks in their home leg in the Isuzu UTE A-League finals tie, with captain Craig Goodwin bagging a fourth-minute penalty after Brian Kaltak’s unfortunate handball in the box.
But by half-time, the Mariners had the 2-1 advantage they would ultimately hold to the final whistle.
James McGarry bagged the equaliser on the quarter hour, venturing from left-back into midfield to whip a dazzling right-footed strike into the top-left corner. Then, it was Goodwin’s Socceroos teammate Cummings who put the Mariners on top, collecting an incisive Beni N’Kololo through pass and dispatching a low strike past Adelaide keeper Joe Gauci into the back of the net.
The chaos of the first half made way for intensity in the second as Adelaide pushed for an equaliser that never came; the Mariners weren’t without chances of their own down the other end as the hosts flirted with the possibility of conceding a third by opening themselves up in pursuit of a leveller.
The final whistle blew after 12 minutes of additional time to confirm the 2-1 Mariners win. The two sides will reconvene at Industree Group Stadium on Saturday, May 20 for the second leg of a gripping Semi Final tie.
The Mariners ‘monster’ who ‘no one could get past’ after four-minute nightmare
Brian Kaltak is in the midst of the very first professional season of his footballing career. He’s 29 years of age.
It means that the 2022-23 A-League Men campaign has been littered with firsts for the Vanuatu national team captain – and on Saturday night, it was time for the latest: a first taste of finals football as a professional.
Kaltak began at the heart of the Mariners’ defence at Coopers Stadium on Saturday night. His task was to try and contain an Adelaide United attack capable of tearing defensive lines to shreds.
With less than two minutes on the clock, a Kaltak handball gifted Adelaide the penalty that Goodwin duly converted to put the Reds on top in the Semi Final, in front of a rocking home crowd.
A player with Kaltak’s inexperience as a top-flight professional might have been excused for shying away from the contest in the aftermath. Instead, Kaltak stepped forward – quite literally – to play a heavy hand in the Mariners’ impressive turnaround.
Kaltak supplied the assist for McGarry’s equaliser on 15 minutes, stepping forward from defence to tee up his defensive teammate to unload from the edge of the box.
Kaltak then went on to make 13 clearances – no one else made more than four – and two tackles, winning six of six duels, winning three of three aerial duels, and winning possession five times.
“(A) monster… beast,” said Network 10’s Bruce Djite when asessing Kaltak’s imperious defensive performance.
“Call it what you like. Formidable defender. No one could get past him tonight.”
