The heartbreak of their finals exit last year remains but Gold Coast United are not after payback in Saturday’s preliminary final rematch against the Central Coast Mariners at Bluetongue Stadium, according to Joel Porter.
It took a fortunate deflection and a lucky bounce for the Adam Kwasnik to score that match’s only goal in the 75th minute, sending the Mariners through to a grand final date with Brisbane Roar.
But Porter said that history has tended to overlook the fact that it could just as easily have been his side who advanced.
“If you look back at the game it could have gone either way and unfortunately, it went their way that year,” he said.
Even so, Porter stressed that nearly eight months on, revenge is the last thing on United’s mind.
“We don’t hold any grudges. We’re all pretty certain that the two best teams last year made the grand final and deserved to play it out,” he said.
“We’ve got no memories of last year that we need to get back at, we’re just looking forward.”
Helping them move forward is the fact that very few players from that match remain at the club.
Courtesy of the massive squad turnover that took place during the off-season, only six players remain from the team that took on Central Coast in that memorable but scrappy final.
“We’ve got fresh faces and that’s part of the advantage – we’ve got a clean slate and we don’t care about the past,” coach Miron Bleiberg said.
That may be the case, but whoever takes the field on Saturday will need to have their wits about them when trying to score with goalkeeping sensation Mathew Ryan in their way.
One of the most enduring replays from last year’s final was Ryan’s incredible double save late in the game, denying consecutive point-blank shots from Adama Traore and Porter.
“He had a fantastic year and just got an award last week from the FFA. He had a fantastic week last week too, so he’s high on confidence,” Porter said.
“Hopefully he gets a little bit too confident this week and has a bad one against us.”
The very fact that United are hoping Ryan has a torrid time on Saturday is just testament to how highly regarded the 19-year-old is throughout the competition.
Bleiberg is another fan – but as he knows all too well, through dealing with a new-look squad filled with promising young players of his own, inconsistency can rear its head at any given moment.
“He’s a wonderkid, but he’s a kid. We all know in every field of life when you’re a kid, there is inconsistency in whatever you do,” he said.
“That applies to him. He is a talented young kid and I wish all the best for him. He could have a good game but by the same token, I remember last year he made mistakes in some games.”
“He will make more mistakes, and hopefully this will be the week.”
