Mori in for short-term as Mariners seek first win

The Central Coast Mariners have been boosted by the arrival of all-time Socceroo top goal scorer Damian Mori ahead of their crucial visit to North Harbour Stadium to face the New Zealand Knights tomorrow.

Mori has been signed on a short-term contract by the Mariners to allow Nik Mrdja another month to further strengthen his knee after more than twelve months without full-time training.

As such, Mori is set to become the 31st player to wear Mariners colours as they strive for their first win of the season.

“We’ve been monitoring Damian’s progress for a few weeks now given our less than ideal start to the season in front of goal," said Mariners Football Manager Lawrie McKinna.

“He’s looking as fit as he ever has and he’s been scoring plenty of goals in Adelaide, I have no doubts he’ll do the job for us, as he has done for all teams he has played with in the past.”

Mori’s record at the top level in Australia is without peer. In 428 matches in the old National Soccer League (NSL) and the Hyundai A-League, Mori has netted 232 goals, winning the NSL top goal scorer award on five occasions and being crowned the NSL player of the year twice.

Mori joins the Mariners in rich goal scoring form, having netted thirteen goals in eighteen league matches for Adelaide City in the most recent South Australian Super League season, with his last match, the Football Federation South Australia Cup Final, just four days ago.

Mori’s face is familiar to several of his new teammates, particularly Tom Pondeljak and Tony Vidmar, who have played with Mori at club and international level previously.

Vidmar partnered Mori at Adelaide City in the National Soccer League (NSL) from 1992 to 1995 and in a number of Socceroo fixtures, including a then world record 22-0 thrashing of Tonga at Coffs Harbour in April 2001, where Mori netted four goals and Vidmar one.

Pondeljak played alongside Mori at the Perth Glory in the final ever NSL season in 2003/04 and during the Socceroos’ ill-fated 2002 OFC Nations Cup campaign in New Zealand, where Mori netted another three of his 29 total goals for Australia.

Interestingly, Mori was last signed to a short-term contract by the Perth Glory in the early stages of the 2005/06 Hyundai A-League and debuted against the New Zealand Knights at North Harbour Stadium – a match the Glory won 1-0.

“Damian has a track record of putting the ball in the back of the net and that’s all that we need to add to our game at the moment,” said McKinna.

“Against the Jets last week, and in most matches this season, we were solid for much of the game but just lacked that killer punch, hopefully Damian can provide this for us, starting tomorrow.”

Mori, who will wear the number 25 jersey, replaces fellow attacker John Hutchinson in the Mariners squad, who succumbed to an ankle injury at training late yesterday.

Hutchinson’s injury, although serious enough to deny him a chance to build on his performance of last week that delivered the Mariners’ first goal of the season, is not expected to keep him out of the Mariners’ next match against Adelaide United at Hindmarsh Stadium.

Youth international Mile Jedinak, another of the Mariners’ short-term signings, replaces Damien Brown as the only other change to the 15-man squad that drew 1-1 with the Newcastle Jets last Saturday.

A-League Round 6

New Zealand Knights vs Central Coast Mariners
Thursday night, September 28
North Harbour Stadium, Auckland
Kick off: 8:00pm (local/NZST), 6:00pm (AEST)

Live Coverage on Fox Sports Two from 6:00pm (AEST).

Team Line-up: 3 Paul O’Grady, 4 Noel Spencer, 8 Jamie McMaster, 10 Tom Pondeljak, 12 Stewart Petrie, 13 Tony Vidmar, 14 Vuko Tomasevic, 15 Andrew Clark, 17 Matthew Osman, 18 Alex Wilkinson, 19 Adam Kwasnik, 20 Danny Vukovic (gk), 23 Mile Jedinak, 25 Damien Mori, 30 Matthew Trott (gk).

The Mariners face a fortnight away from home, firstly across the Tasman to play the Knights and then to Hindmarsh Stadium to face Adelaide United on Friday, 6 October.

The Mariners return to Central Coast Stadium on Friday, 13 October when they line up against southern rivals Sydney FC. Kick off is at 7:00pm.

Tickets for the match are on sale now from Ticketek outlets, the Ticketek website – www.ticketek.com.au, or via phone on 132 849.