Goals and Mariners’ hearts broken in Gosford
Sometimes sporting teams can't wait to turn the page on a tough year. Unfortunately for the Central Coast Mariners, 2018 had one last sting in the tail in store against Perth Glory.
Andy Keogh and Fabio Ferreira ended goalscoring droughts and a goalpost was also broken, as the Glory ended the year top of the A-League and Central Coast completed their annus horribilis.
The game, won 4-1 by Perth, was held up for 40 minutes after a post was snapped when Glory defender Tomislav Mrcela ran hard into the back of the Mariners goal.
The players left the ground around 12 minutes into the delay as officials addressed the situation.
With both goals needing to be the same dimensions, the ground staff from Central Coast Council got two portable training goals from under the grandstand and took the wheels off.
The incident happened in the tenth minute, by which time Keogh had ended his five-game run without a goal.
He added a second in the dying seconds of the game.
After the game resumed, former Mariner Ferreira scored two goals to give his side a 3-0 half-time advantage and set up a three-point lead at the top of the table.
"Maybe it helps when you're winning, when we looked at the players they seemed very relaxed, very calm, very focused, we weren't really concerned that they couldn't pick up the rhythm where they left off [before the break]," Glory coach Tony Popovic said.
"The performance was very good, I think the first half was outstanding from us."
Ferreira's goals were the first in 23 months for the Portuguese forward, whose last score ironically was a penalty for the Mariners against Perth on the same ground in January 2017.
Mariners' 2018 from hell
Jan 6: 1-1 draw with Melbourne Victory
Jan 9: 2-0 loss to Newcastle Jets
Jan 14: 2-2 draw with Melbourne City
Jan 20: 1-1 draw with Sydney FC
Jan 27: 2-1 loss to Brisbane Roar
Feb 4: 2-1 loss to Western Sydney Wanderers
Feb 17: 2-2 draw with Adelaide United
Feb 23: 1-0 win over Wellington Phoenix
Mar 10: 3-1 loss to Perth Glory
Mar 18: 5-2 loss to Melbourne Victory
Mar 24: 2-1 loss to Sydney FC
Mar 31: 1-0 loss to Brisbane Roar
Apr 7: 1-0 loss to Melbourne City
Apr 14: 8-2 loss to Newcastle Jets
New Season
Oct 21: 1-1 draw with Brisbane Roar
Oct 27: 1-1 draw with Melbourne City
Nov 4: 3-0 loss to Adelaide United
Nov 11: 4-1 loss to Melbourne Victory
Nov 25: 3-2 loss to Perth Glory
Dec 1: 2-1 loss to Sydney FC
Dec 7: 2-0 loss to Western Sydney Wanderers
Dec 15: 2-0 loss to Wellington Phoenix
Dec 23: 2-1 loss to Newcastle Jets
Dec 31: 4-1 loss to Perth Glory
24 games – W: 1, D: 6, L: 17
The loss meant Central Coast went through 2018 with just one A-League win in 24 games and have gone 15 matches since their last victory.
Disappointed coach Mike Mulvey branded the delay in the game unacceptable,
"That was pretty unacceptable wasn't it, what happened today with the goals and having to stop for 40 minutes?" Mulvey said.
"It's bad for the public of Central Coast, all the people that came out on New Year's Eve to watch the game.
"I'd like to thank all the volunteers and the staff here at the stadium that got these two portable goals and made it acceptable that we could play a game, but really it's unacceptable isn't it, in this day and age?"
The Mariners got off to the worst possible start, conceding in the third minute when Glory captain and striker Keogh slotted the ball home after the Mariners failed to properly clear a ball in their penalty area.
In the incident which led to the snapped post, Mrcela headed the ball into the net before charging into it, but he was flagged offside.
The delay allowed the Mariners to regroup and they did initially show more intensity after the restart.
But it was a temporary reprieve as Glory doubled their lead within three minutes, when Ferreira headed home a Jason Davidson cross.
Ferreira struck again just before half-time, when his cross floated over Pearce into the far corner of the net.
That was enough for some disgruntled Mariners supporters, who left after the goal, while others booed their side off at the break.
Late in the game, the chaotic night was capped off when Gosford's early New Year's Eve fireworks — which had been scheduled for after the match at 9:15pm local time — went off during the match because of the lengthy delay.
AAP/ABC
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