Central Coast clinched the Booz and Co. Cup with a far from easy 3-0 triumph over Belconnen United on Thursday night.
Belconnen kept the Hyundai A-League side at bay in the opening half before the result was sealed with three Mariners goals in the second half.
Lim Dong Sup opened the scoring in the 68th minute when he tapped in after a goalmouth scramble, and two minutes later the lead was doubled when Gary Wales scored after his initial attempt was blocked.
Ahmad Elrich then made it three goals in eight minutes with a superb volley set up by Wales.
“Pedj switched it and I think Walesy was going to take it, so I just called for it. I saw the keeper a bit off his line so I thought I’d lob him, and luckily enough, it went in,” said Elrich.
“We’ve had a very tough week and the boys have a few aches and pains here and there, but the second half showed that when we hit second gear we dominated the game. They had to clear three or four off the line so it could have been a lot more, but at the end of the day, we’re happy with 3-0.”
Mariners coach Lawrie McKinna was happy his side was able to get the result after being less than impressed with the opening half.
“I was happy with the second half, but the first half was the same as last year, we never had the ball up front, we never showed up front, the movement was poor, everything was poor,” he said.
“That’s why we took Caceres and Mrdja off at half time, because it just wasn’t good enough. I thought the boys who came on, Nicky Travis did very well, through the whole game I thought Pedj Bojic was outstanding, Adam Kwasnik did well when he came on, Gary Wales did a great job for the full 90 minutes as well.”
The Mariners’ pre-season campaign continues on Sunday with a match against Capital Football select XI at the AIS Athletics Track.
Meanwhile, Central Coast’s Round 13 match against Adelaide will be staged at Canberra Stadium in one of two home games in the nation’s capital for the Mariners.