It was not the result the home faithful had wanted but once again Central Coast Mariners fell at Gosford to the Queensland Roar, this time to a convincing 2-0 defeat.
This was the first leg of the Minor Semi-Final with the second leg next Friday in Brisbane.
It was a warm night with smoke from nearby bushfires making the air unpleasant for spectators and players alike.
Even though Roar lost key defender, Josh McCloughan to a groin injury just before the break, and then had Danny Tiatto sent off they were untroubled to deal with a lacklustre Mariners attack and midfield. Defensive lapses, too, did the locals no favours with the first goal coming after Mitch Nichols just got his head in before Pej Bojic in a crowded goalmouth when a smartly delivered corner from the right was delivered by Matt McKay in the 30th minute.
Signs were promising early on for Central Coast as the game began in true Cup tie intensity but that did not last
The first minute foray involving Matt Simon and Dylan Macallister saw headed passes getting the Roar defence in some panic but the last of these was scrambled clear and the danger moment soon passed.
At the other end Tiatto's deep cross from the left found Serginho Van Dijk whose header went wide.
Adrian Caceres did some good work on the right after 18 minutes and laid on a pass for Macallister whose shot at the near post was bundled away for a corner.
Liam Reddy, back in the Queensland side after an injury enforced absence, pulled off a smart save two minutes later to parry away another telling Caceres cross, this time from the left.
Simon, set alight by Bojic in the 22nd, dashed clear of the Roar defence only for a last ditch scramble to thwart his goal scoring ambitions
After a 23rd minute throw by John Hutchinson the ball was cleared to an area outside the box where Matthew Osman unleashed a great volley that Reddy only just saw in time to save at the second attempt.
Queensland began to take a greater part in the game after that, having survived a torrid opening spell, being rewarded with their 30th minute opener.
Central Coast had another chance two minutes later but after a long throw Macallister again saw his volley go just wide.
In the 37th Simon and Macallister combined with the latter's cross going begging, It was not to be the Mariners' day.
In the 52nd Caceres put a free kick over the bar from just outside the area, but two minutes later Roar were given a penalty by referee Ben Williams after Paul O'Grady tripped Nichols as he made his way into the box on the left. There was no dispute about it even if to the naked eye it could have seemed innocuous.
Van Dijk added to his impressive goal-scoring deeds of late by putting the spot kick away easily.
Tiatto got his marching orders after a second caution this time for a foul on Macalister but the ten men played as if they had the numerical advantage thereafter and coasted home.
As for the Mariners, only a Paul O'Grady header against the crossbar gave them any cheer, coming in the 76th minute as time became the enemy for the home team.
Overall Queensland showed the better team work and passing consistency and defensive alertness, with Michael Zullo and Massimo Murdocca bossing the midfield along with Mackay.
Tahj Minniecon had a quieter game while Van Dijk did all that was expected of him.
The Mariners were well served by Hutchinson, Caceres in patches and Alex Wilkinson but none of the forwards fired, Simon being taken off along with Andre Gumprecht and neither Saso Petrovski nor Nik Mrdja could make much impression when they came on as substitutes. Matt Osman had a reasonable game in the middle of the park.
The task of hauling back a two goal deficit looks a daunting one for Lawrie McKinna's men but a shock in Brisbane can never be ruled out.
"We can still qualify, but on our second half performance tonight, no we can’t," said Mariners coach Lawrie McKinna. "We need to go up to Suncorp Stadium and we need to score first, if we score first anything can happen, as we proved against Newcastle last year. "But we can’t afford to go up there and start charging at them, because if we cop a goal we’ll be gone, we have to be patient and go at them and get that belief back in the team."