Nick Montgomery’s side complete 4-1 aggregate win on epic night, writes Tom Smithies at Industree Group Stadium.
The Mariners are sailing into the Grand Final, sweeping Adelaide aside to secure a date with Melbourne City in a fortnight and take another step towards A-League immortality.
On a tumultous night in Gosford, Nick Montgomery’s side wrote a new entry in the history of their club, goals from Sammy Silvera and Marco Tulio in the space of four minutes completing a 4-1 aggregate victory that takes the club into the Grand Final on June 3 for the first time in a decade.
Leading 2-1 from the first leg in Adelaide, the Mariners surged forward on the emotion of a 20,059-strong crowd – the highest in the club’s history at their home stadium.
The result is another extraordinary moment in the resurrection of the club that for years had bounced along the bottom of the league table. Nearing the end of just his second season as a head coach, Montgomery has built on the work of Alen Stajcic to infuse his club with a sense of belief that they can compete again with the monied big guns in the A-League.
It’s a team of locally developed youth, which seems to have struck a parochial chord with the Central Coast populace. For almost two hours before kick off the crowd had queued for entry, an eerie calm settling on the Mariners’ home ground. And then the opening whistle sounded and the atmosphere exploded.
The speed was breathtaking, every recovery of possession turning instantly into another full-blooded attack as Adelaide sought a way back into the contest after losing the first leg 2-1 last weekend.
Within moments Craig Goodwin had slipped the Mariners marking and was clear in the box; though the offside flag went up belatedly, Danny Vukovic had already made a big statement with a big save to repel his World Cup teammate.
The home side kept the closest eye possible on Goodwin, doubling up where necessary – at one point Jason Cummings was back alongside his own right-back on defensive duties.
But you can’t shut down a genius all of the time, and after a Mariners corner was cleared, Goodwin unfurled a mesmeric swirling pass from one side of the pitch to the other for Ben Halloran; his cutback to Zach Clough was met with a first time shot from 12 metres that brushed the outside of the post.
That seemed to be the moment when the Mariners grabbed the contest with both hands, ratcheting up the pressure with a series of raids. The tone was set by Nectar Triantis, whose crunching tackle on Ethan Alagich sent the ball ballooning wide to Marco Tulio; with an outrageous lofted flick, the Brazilian evaded his marker and sent Sammy Silvera away, only for Alex Popovic to hunt him down crudely to earn the first yellow card.
Central Coast should have scored from the freekick, Brian Kaltak heading wastefully wide at the far post, then Tulio shot a little tentatively when freed by Cummings.
The weight of the contest had shifted, and finally – three minutes into the second half – that was reflected on the scoreboard. It was a goal made of Scottish cunning and showed brilliantly why Cummings is so much more than just a goalscorer.
Josh Nisbet’s pass down the right wing found Cummings in space but apparently isolated; instead, the forward drew in Ben Warland, skipped away and raced into the box. Time stood still as Cummings waited for support, before rolling the ball across for Silvera to sidefoot in the opening goal.
Now the home side had the wind in their sails, and how they capitalised. Four minutes later they had a second thanks this time to Brazilian flair, a threat that Adelaide should know well by now. Tulio showed strength to win the ball on the left and drove goalward; his low cross was deflected goalwards by Popovic and saved by Joe Gauci, Tulio struck the loose ball into the top of the net with an imperious flick, and disappeared into a sea of yellow behind the goal.
Adelaide were left needing a miracle, so went to the one figure who could conceivably have conjured one – Nestory Irankunda summoned from the bench by Adelaide boss Carl Veart. Like clockwork, Montgomery brought on Jacob Farrell for the third instalment of their dual.
United’s wonderkid almost had an immediate impact, seizing on possession outside the box and letting fly with a shot that struck the base of the post.
The game, despite the score, was wide open and the Mariners surged forward with Christian Theoharous wriggling into the box and drawing a fine, finger tip save from Gauci. Cummings met Farrell’s low cross with a shot that fizzed just over, then Max Ballard did the same from another Farrell cross.
Manfully Adelaide sought a response, but the Mariners’ defence was rock solid. And then the final whistle sounded, and the party started. Montgomery and his squad have two weeks to breathe the air of being grand finalists.
Epic photo that shows Mariners are ‘legit’
After the match, much of the 20,000-plus crowd stuck around for the celebrations as the Mariners took what is surely one of the biggest team photos in world football.
It was a remarkable sight that showed they truly are a community club.
“They are still here now a big chunk of them,” former Socceroo Luke Wilkshire said on 10 Bold’s coverage.
“That is what they work hard on. They are a community club. They are a family. That goes beyond the XI players you see on the pitch at a time.
“It is a club that has really embraced the region and they’re embracing them back.”
Adelaide legend Bruce Djite added: “As an outsider looking in, you talk about community club, family – you can speak to every person from any club in this league and they’ll throw out those terms – but this is legit.
“They have their whole club out there. They always do, through the good times and the bad, they always respect the fans, they’re always giving them time.
“I love seeing a club like this be successful, because they more than deserve it.”
