KEEPUP followed along LIVE to bring you all the goals, highlights, up-to-date scores and biggest talking points from Central Coast Mariners’ 2-0 win over Adelaide United in the Isuzu UTE A-League Semi Finals on Saturday night.
Central Coast Mariners head coach Nick Montgomery says people have been writing his side off all season – and all the while, he’s been keeping his receipts.
On Saturday night, Montgomery orchestrated a 2-0 (4-1 aggregate) Semi Final victory over Adelaide United to book the Mariners’ a spot in the 2022-23 Isuzu UTE A-League Grand Final.
One of Montgomery’s receipts features the name of Melbourne City head coach Rado Vidosic, who on Friday night predicted Adelaide would triumph over the Mariners to meet his side in the title decider, despite trailing 2-1 after the first Semi Final leg.
Just minutes after the final whistle confirmed Central Coast’s status as a Grand Finalist, Montgomery set Vidosic and City in his sights.
“Someone was doubting us – Rado Vidosic last night said he thinks Adelaide would get to the final,” Montgomery told Paramount+. “So yeah, we’ll see him in two weeks.”
“That’s four games against Adelaide (this season),” Montgomery added. “Four wins, 12 goals against one, and people are still doubting us tonight.
“You know what? People can talk as much as they want. Talk is cheap. You have to perform on the pitch.”
The Mariners will face City in the 2023 title decider at CommBank Stadium on Saturday, June 3. The two sides faced off twice in the regular season, with City winning the first encounter 1-0 in sweltering conditions before a gripping 1-1 draw in Round 24 which was arguably one of the games of the season, littered with chances down either end and played at a relentless tempo.
Montgomery is taking plenty of confidence from those two regular-season meetings as he looks ahead to the title decider.
“We will go toe-to-toe with Melbourne City,” Montgomery said. “They’re a good team, they dererved to win the (Premiership). “We drew with them 1-1 here a couple of weeks ago, I thought we should have won the game. Away at their place we lost 1-0 on a day that was 45 degrees. I think there was four drink breaks and it was a horrible game.
“We’ll give them full respect, they’re a good team, massive respect for what they’ve done, but we’ll be going to win the game in two weeks. It’s as simple as that.”
ISUZU UTE A-LEAGUE GRAND FINAL – TICKET DETAILS
