The Central Coast Mariners scored their first home win of the Hyundai A-League season but the 4-1 victory came at a huge cost with star goalkeeper Mark Bosnich suffering a serious injury.
Bosnich limped off after only six minutes at Bluetongue Stadium in Gosford with a torn hamstring.
Bosnich, who was eligible to play a further two games for the Mariners as a guest player, put his arm up to signal he was in trouble seconds after taking a goalkick.
Andrew Redmayne replaced Bosnich and did well in his Hyundai A-League debut. He backed up after playing a full match in the National Youth League.
The injury to Bosnich marred what was a fantastic performance from the home side.
Veteran striker Sasho Petrvoski opened the scoring in the ninth minute when he latched on to a defence-splitting pass from Adrian Caceres.
Petrovski chipped Perth goalkeeper Jason Petkovic and his shot hit the post. He then made no mistake with the simple tap-in for his third goal of the season.
The Mariners went two goals clear in spectacular fashion in the 29th minute when midfielder Mile Jedinak slammed home a freekick from 30m out. It was Jedinak’s second goal of the campaign.
The lead was extended just before the break when Caceres capitalised on some terrible Perth defence to score his first goal for the Mariners.
Perth came out with more intensity in the second half and were rewarded when Nikita Rukavytsya claimed a goal in the 63rd minute. The Perth striker claimed the goal but replays suggested Andrew Clark may have got the final touch.
Perth’s joy was short lived with the Mariners notching their fourth goal one minute later to restore their three-goal advantage. Matthew Osman combined well with Matt Simon to find the back of the net for the final goal of the match.
Central Coast 4 (Petrovski ‘9, Jedinak ’29, Caceres ’45, Osman ’64)
Perth 1 (Rukavytsya ’63)
8016 at Bluetongue Stadium
