Mariners lift Pre-Season Cup after battle with Glory

The Central Coast Mariners have lifted the first piece of silverware in the clubs short history after defeating Perth Glory 1-0 in the Pre-Season Cup final in Gosford tonight.

It was certainly a hard fought victory without much separating the two A-League sides but a scrappy first half effort from substitute Stewart Petrie eventually proved the difference for the home team in front of 6,609 delirious fans.

The pre match news centred on the players missing for the visitors, Bobby Despotovski and Steve McMahon junior suspended while skipper Jamie Harnwell missed the final through illness. Marquee signing Brian Deane also missed the match having only entered the country an hour before kick off.

However contrasting fortunes blessed the Mariners who welcomed back Andrew Clark into the first XI, while Stewart Petrie and Michael Beauchamp started on the bench.

Despite the importance placed on the match by Central Coast manager Lawrie McKinna before kick off it was Perth who undoubtedly made the brighter start, Adrian Caceras with a sharp early break down the right only for the returning Clark to make a timely intervention.

The Glory were making all the early running but the Mariners were determined not to end their second consecutive final without success and soon started to string together some noteworthy attacks of their own.

The first meaningful moment of the match arrived for the home side as local hero Damien Brown split the opposing defence with an incisive through ball, only for Jason Petkovic to save at the feet of striker Nick Mrdja.

That was to prove the first and the last significant moment for Mrdja as the Central Coast soon suffered a major blow, their star striker limping off the field to be replaced by the former Dunfermline forward Stewart Petrie after only 16 minutes.

Without a real target man the Mariners were now struggling to find much attacking penetration, both Petrie and Tom Pondeljak considered auxiliary strikers rather than traditional centre-forwards.

After a few uneventful minutes Perth striker Henry Fa'arodo tried to light up the match after a one-two with Horsley but the Solomon Islands man couldn't connect with the return pass and the Central Coast escaped.

Jason Petkovic is one of the most highly rated goalkeepers in the fledgling league but after failing to deal with a routine corner chances were presented to first Gumprecht then Heffernan but both were wasted as the scoreline remained blank.

The best moment of the match thus far arrived when youngster Matt Osman's thunderous effort was wonderfully tipped past the post by Petkovic but better was soon to come for the Gosford faithful.

The good work from the Australian international keeper was completely undone when calamitous goalkeeping allowed Mariners captain Noel Spencer to turn the ball back across the goal, Stewart Petrie bundling the ball over the line from close range to give his side a 1-0 lead after 38 minutes.

It was an extremely soft goal to concede from the western Australian perspective and Steve McMahon would be furious about the timing, but thankful the deficit wasn't doubled within moments as Pondeljak tested Petkovic once again with a fierce drive.

Perth still had a chance enter the interval on level terms but after some good approach play Nick Ward's long range effort agonisingly grazed the bar and the half ended with the Central Coast holding a one goal advantage.

Perhaps the lone positive point from a visiting perspective was the exciting performance of front man Fa'arodo and he started the second stanza as left off the first, an excellent run leading to a shot which whistled over the bar to the relief of Mariners keeper Crawley.

Gumprecht and Pondeljak were looking particularly impressive going forward but without Mrdja their side was lacking a cutting edge and chances became few and far between.

Simon Colosimo was surely out to prove recently appointed Australian coach Guus Hiddink wrong after the Dutchman left him out of the Socceroos latest training camp, but the usually influential Glory midfielder was enduring a surprisingly quiet evening.

But the Mariner weren't complaining and it should have been made 2-0 when Noel Spencer was again involved in an attacking sense, but after squaring the ball intelligently an unmarked Osman took a touch too many and the chance was wasted.

Perth knew that was a let off and seemed determined to punish the Mariners for their profligacy in front of goal, substitute Hiroyuki Ishida's pace proving particularly difficult for the defenders in yellow.

However without possessing either their usual talisman Despotovski or the imminent talents of Brian Deane, the visitors struggled to fashion any worthwhile opportunities.

A Billy Celeski free kick on the hour was probably the best chance for the Glory but John Crawley was never seriously tested and the match rather petered out in terms of goal scoring chances thereafter.

The Mariners were understandably content to hold on to their 1-0 advantage and duly won the match without the need for extra time, this win surely providing immense confidence for the coming season.

Captain Noel Spencer couldn't contain his delight when lifting the first trophy of the Central Coast club's history, but he will know as well as anyone that the real work starts in 6 days time when the inaugural A-League kicks off for the Mariners in Perth.

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