The Central Coast Mariners have won a place in the A-League Grand Final after defeating Adelaide United 1-0 at Hindmarsh Stadium today. The result brought an unexpected early end to the season for run-away A-League Premiers Adelaide United who, only three weeks ago, was the A-League championship favourites. Adelaide United when into the game as the favourites but their recent form has been patchy. In contrast the Central Coast Mariners have gone 11 games without a loss. However Central Coast's last loss was to Adelaide United! Adelaide named an unchanged starting line-up from the side that went down to Sydney FC last week. Central Coast was forced into one change from the side that drew with Newcastle with Matthew Osman being replaced by Damien Brown. The conditions were good for football with the temperature in the mid twenties, a clear sky and a cool southerly breeze.
A reasonable crowd of 11,405 turned out at Hindmarsh Stadium considering all the competing events on in Adelaide on Sunday. Hindmarsh Stadium was never going to be sold out given the game clashed with the cricket one day final at Adelaide Oval, the Adelaide Crows playing Port Power at Football Park, the popular Food, Wine and Music Festival in Norwood and the opening weekend of the world famous biennial Adelaide Festival Fringe. Logic would suggest the game should have been moved from Sunday afternoon but the timing of A-League games beats to the drum of Foxtel. Central Coast kicked off the game and immediately both sides slotted into their familiar styles. Adelaide took the more direct route to goal while Central Coast looked to use their pace up front to get behind the Adelaide defence.
In the 3rd minute Noel Spencer hit a long range drive forcing an early save by Adelaide's goalkeeper Beltrame. With only 6 minutes on the clock Adelaide's Alagich sent a long throw in into the Central Coast penalty area and a tame header was comfortable grabbed by goalkeeper Danny Vukovic. A quick throw from Vukovic found Petrie who sent the ball down the flank to Andre Gumprecht. The Central Coast midfielder evaded Adelaide's Costanzo before crossing the ball in the penalty area. Defender Adam vanDommele should have comfortably dealt with the cross but instead he miscued his clearance and snicked the ball straight in the path of Tom Pondeljak who made no mistake from only two metres out. It was a costly mistake from the young Adelaide defender that gifted a vital early goal to the Central Coast Mariners. Adelaide bounced back quickly with captain Ross Aloisi leading the way in the middle of the park.
In the 10th minute Adelaide's Travis Dodd broke free down the left flank and cut inside along the by-line. He hit a low cross into the box that was intercepted by goalkeeper Danny Vukovic just in front of three waiting Adelaide United players. Central Coast counter attacked and won a corner. Gumprecht curled in the corner and Alex Wilkinson rose in the box and put his free header over the crossbar when he should have scored. A few minutes later Wayne O'Sullivan put in a cross and Pondeljak rose inside the box only to put his header high over the bar. Central Coast was getting a lot of joy down Adelaide's left flank.
In the 18th minute tackles were flying in the midfield but Adelaide came away with the ball. Travis Dodd pushed down the right flank and cut the ball back to the edge of the penalty area to the waiting Rech. The Brazilian lined up his shot and placed it just inside the post only to be denied by the outstretched hands of goalkeeper Vukovic. It was a wonderful save. Adelaide continued to push for an equaliser. Aloisi hit a ball through to Qu and a mix-up between Vukovic and Brown resulted in a corner for Adelaide. Qu took the corner which was headed clear but only as far as Aloisi. The normally deadly Aloisi took the ball on the half volley and drove the ball high into the stand behind the goal.
After a torrid opening twenty minutes the defenders of both teams started to settle down. The middle of the park was very tight as both teams actively closed down their opponents. So the flanks became the main avenue of attack but both goalkeepers Beltrame and Vukovic were dealing very confidently with any crosses. In the 35th minute Central Coast were awarded a free kick out wide. Tom Pondeljak cleverly tried to sneak the free kick just inside the post but the unsighted Beltrame pulled off a difficult save. The rebound fell to Petrie but good defending from Adelaide's Rees and a quick recovery from Beltrame put enough pressure on Petrie to force the striker to scramble the rebound wide of the post. Rech could have levelled the score for Adelaide only minutes later. A long Adelaide throw-in was headed clear but only as far as Rech well inside the box. Rech hit his shot low but wide of the post.
In the 42nd minute Adelaide piled on the pressure. Central Coast cleared two crossed before the third was nodded on to the back post. Travis Dodd ran onto the ball. With the goals beckoning he volleyed his shot high and wide of the target. It was another squandered opportunity. The score line at half time was 1-0 in favour of the Central Coast Mariners.
The second half kicked off with both sides unchanged. The opening minutes were dominated by the defenders until the 52nd minute. Travis Dodd found space out wide and put in a perfectly weighted cross to Veart on the penalty spot. The unmarked Veart rose above teammate Qu but put his header over the bar. Adelaide searched for an equaliser but just could not find that crucial final pass to turn a promising move into a goal-scoring opportunity. With time running out Adelaide's coach John Kosmina turned to his bench making several surprise substitutions. Most would have expected to see young defender vanDommele replaced but instead it was the attack minded Veart, scorer of seven goals this season, who made way for midfielder Greg Owens in the 60th minute.
Andrew Clark rescued the Mariners with a timely interception after Aloisi had cleverly flicked the ball with the outside of his boot onto the chest of Qu. Minutes later Andrew Clark came to the rescue again. A clever one-two with Qu saw Travis Dodd streaking down the flank. Vukovic closed down the angle but Dodd side-footed the ball across the box towards Aloisi. Clark intercepted and ball scrambled out for a corner. Adelaide's best chance of the game fell to Qu in the 71st minute. Costanzo threaded the ball towards Rech who held off his defender and let the ball run onto Qu inside the box. The Chinese striker turned his defender and struck his shot goal-wards only to be denied a goal by the feet of Vukovic. After so many magnificent goals this season most would have put money on Qu putting away this rather straightforward opportunity. The action moved to the other end of the ground. Pondeljak found Brown out wide who came inside into the box before striking the ball goal-wards. Beltrame looked beaten but the ball struck defender Rees and went out for a corner.
In the 75th minute Beauchamp brought down Qu outside the box giving Adelaide a dangerous free kick 30 metres from goal but straight in front. Rech and Aloisi conspired a short free kick before Rech hit a magnificent curling drive over the wall. Vukovic did not even move as the ball cannoned into the cross bar. It was to be Rech's last contribution in the game with Kosmina making his second unusual substitution. Rech, scorer of seven goals in only half a season, made way for the debut of the young and unproven Jason Spagnuolo while the more experienced Louis Brain remained on the bench. In the 81st minute Pondeljak almost finished off the game with a strike from outside the box that flew over the bar.
A minute later Spagnuolo had the opportunity to make a big impact on his debut when he broke free down the left flank. He crossed the ball into the box towards Qu and Aloisi only for Andrew Clark to come to the rescue once again with an outstretched leg. Kosmina took his last throw of the dice taking off fullback Richie Alagich for centre half Robert Cornthwaite. The giant young defender was thrown upfront. Unfortunately Cornthwaite is unlikely to be any more than nuisance value up-front because despite his height he has not shown any real aerial threat in his previous performances unlike fellow central defender Valkanis or even Rees. The Adelaide crowd stood in their seats for the closing minutes attempting to roar their side onward to an equaliser. The noise seemed to lift Adelaide who put Central Coast under the pump. In the 87th minute an Adelaide long throw into the box was flicked on and landed at the feet of Travis Dodd inside the box. The midfielder miscued his shot high and wide. Two minutes later Danny Vukovic came off his line for a long ball and only fractionally beat Travis Dodd to the ball. Vukovic beat Dodd by the slimmest of margins and was only able to clip the ball out for a corner. Hindmarsh roared as Qu curled in the corner. Valkanis rose and headed the ball powerfully towards goal only for O'Sullivan to clear the ball off the goal line. Central Coast used up the remaining three minutes and held on to record a 1-0 victory and grab a place in the A-League grand final.
For Adelaide it was a disappointing early end to the season and the third finals game in a row without a win. However fans should not lose sight of the fact that the club has far exceeded the expectations of everyone. Many had predicted the side would finish in the lower half of the table. With the A-League now a proven quantity off the field, the on-field standards better understood and a new owner onboard, Adelaide United will be an even more aggressive package in season 2006/2007. For the Central Coast Mariners the dream continues. Like Adelaide they have proven their doubters wrong and have reached the Grand Final. They are the form side of the A-League. One more good performance and the Mariners will be taking the curious looking A-League trophy back to the Central Coast of NSW. After the game Adelaide coach John Kosmina said he felt Adelaide, like last week against Sydney, had created enough opportunities to win the game.
Central Coast's Lawrie McKinna said it was a hard game but he thought they deserved the win. "As you'd expect Adelaide threw everything at us in the second half and we defended bravely" he added. Best for Adelaide was defender Valkanis. Goalkeeper Beltrame put in a good performance and captain Aloisi fought hard putting in one of his better performances for the season. Best for Central Coast was defenders Clark and Beauchamp. Gumprecht had an excellent first half and the pace of Pondeljak had troubled Adelaide. Goalkeeper Vukovic put in a flawless performance. A final note for the FFA - every time Adelaide United has gone head to head with an AFL game the attendances at Hindmarsh Stadium have been severely impacted. Lets not repeat the same mistakes for season 2006/2007.