Central Coast Mariners vs Wellington Phoenix at Central Coast Stadium
Result: Mariners 5 – Phoenix 0
Emphatic win for Mariners
In what can only be described as a demolition, Central Coast Mariners ran rampant over a struggling Wellington Phoenix by 5 goals to nil. Less than 3,000 spectators witnessed the home side score their biggest win since 2013.
Not only was the result decisive but the exciting brand of Football on display by the Mariners would have pleased any avid fan of the World Game. Solid in defence, magnificent in midfield, devastating in attack that was the Yellow on the night.
It took just six minutes for the first goal to be put away. Beni N’Kololo was striding purposefully in on goal when he was tripped by Phoenix defender Louis Fenton and a penalty awarded. Mariners leading goal scorer Marcos Ureña stepped up to slam the ball home.
The first foray into the home area from Phoenix didn’t arrive until the sixteenth minute with it not troubling Mark Birighitti. That became the visitor’s pattern all game. A moment later. N’Kololo shot across to the far corner but agonisingly the woodwork got in the way.
However it didn’t take long for Beni N’Kololo to repeat that shot. A left foot cross (come shot) cleared the heads of the attacking Mariners and the Phoenix defenders only for it to curl inside the left-hand upright. but this time there was no mistake.
This made the score 2 – 0 and stayed that way until half-time.
The second commenced in small portions Phoenix seemed to get some extra legs for a short while. However in the 53rd produced another penalty with Lewis Miller being fouled inside the box with Louis Fenton committing the foul. This time Jason Cummings stepped up, converting the penalty with a precise strike to make up for his miss against Western in the previous match.
Coach Monty made three changes with 30 minutes to go, bringing on Moresche, Müller and Garang Kuol to give a well deserved rest for the three goal scorers. This gave 17 year old Garang Kuol his A-League Men’s debut and thrived up front.
With only minutes on the field Kuol received a pin-point long ball from Lewis Miller. With a defender on either side of hime, Kuol made contact with the ball to steer it past the advancing goalkeeper and it rolled in for number four.
The Mariners were not finished. Moresche played provider to Matt Hatch who found himself one-on-one with the keeper. Keeping his head, he recovered from a blocked shot to loop the ball back over the keeper and into the net in the third minute of time added on.
What a superb display from the boys in yellow in handing the Phoenix their second consecutive thumping who were beaten 6-0 only three days earlier by Melbourne City.