Oar reveals ‘the main difference’ he sees at the Mariners this season

Central Coast Mariners attacker Tommy Oar says his side possess a new-found resilience this season which is capable of hauling them up the Hyundai A-League table.

Two losses and a bye in the last three rounds of action sent the Mariners tumbling to the bottom of the ladder, but a gutsy 2-1 win over Adelaide United on Sunday afternoon saw Oar’s side leapfrog Newcastle Jets and Brisbane Roar into ninth position.

The Mariners’ win over the Reds was arduous at times but Oar wasn’t complaining post-match.

In fact, he encouraged more of the same from his side as they begin to show they’re able to
win ugly.

“I think there’s more resilience to this Mariners team than there’s been in the side for the last few years,” Oar told FOX Sports post-match.

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“Today we probably didn’t play our best football for the whole match, but we got the three points and that’s what’s important.

“In years gone by unless we had our best game of the season then we probably wouldn’t have gotten the three points, so I think that’s the main difference this season.”

The Mariners hold at least one game in hand over the majority of teams above them on the table, meaning they are in a strong position to crack the top six if results continue over the busy festive period.  

Central Coast Mariners

“It was a really important game for us,” Oar continued. 

“In order to stay within touching distance of the top six we knew we had to win today.

“I thought the first half we played really well, it was disappointing to concede so early in the second half but I think we showed a lot of character to hang on.

“They had a number of half chances that on another day they would have scored.

“I think we also had chances in the second half to kill off the game and get the 3-1 (result).

“It’s a nice Christmas present for our fans as well.

“We’ll take it, it’s a bit of luck finally gone our way and now we can move on and look forward to the New Year’s Eve game against Perth.”

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The Mariners’ final test of 2019 is a tough one as reigning Premiers Perth Glory travel to Central Coast Stadium on a roll, having won three games on the trot culminating in a 6-2 thrashing of Newcastle Jets on Saturday night.

If the Mariners are to get anything out of their clash with the Glory they will have to show a similar resilience to what they showed against the Reds, but the mountain will seem a
whole lot easier to climb if their midfield star Milan Duric continues to excel.

Duric starred once again for the Mariners against Adelaide, scoring a long-range bomb in the first half which gave the hosts a two-goal buffer Adelaide could not claw back.

The Serbian cut a relieved figure after the game as he helped his team to their third win of the season as he himself continues a careful return from injury.

“We are very happy,” Duric told FOX Sports.

“We knew this was an important game for us, and we know Adelaide is a very good team.

“Every game we have good analysis of opponent team and the coach made some changes.

“We worked very hard this week, we know we needed to win this game to come up (the table).

“We have two games less (than our rivals) and we hoped we would start like this and keep having good games for the new year.

“Tonight I want to say a big respect for our fans, they come in a lot of numbers and this is good for us.

“The fans are the 12th player for us.”

Round 12

Central Coast Mariners v Perth Glory
Central Coast Stadium
Tuesday, 31 December 2019
Kick off: 7.00pm AEDT

Match centre
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Adelaide United v Western Sydney Wanderers
Coopers Stadium
Friday, 27 December 2019
Kick off 7.30pm AEDT

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