Central Coast Mariners coach hails performance

Adelaide United’s four game unbeaten streak has come to an abrupt end after being outclassed 4-0 by the Central Coast Mariners in last night’s Hyundai A-League fixture at Hindmarsh Stadium.

The Mariners killed the game off in the first half with three goals in a ten minute burst, before Rostyn Griffiths added a fourth in the 66th minute to cap off a memorable night which left Mariners coach Graham Arnold highly pleased.

“I think the first half was by far the best performance of the season" Arnold said.

"The young boys were great, we got 90 minutes out of both (Mustafa) Amini and (Bernie) Ibini and that is a big positive."

Borussia Dortmund loan Amini scored the first for Central Coast and was a threat throughout the match, providing the creative spark that Adelaide lacked without Dario Vidosic.

Arnold was full of praise for his 18-year-old star and said the decision to play another year in the A-League would benefit his career in the long-term.

“You can see the strength of him now, you can see another two metres in pace that he’s got and as he gets a little bit older his decision making will get even better,” Arnold said.

Adelaide coach Rini Coolen conceded there’s a combination of issues hurting his team, but the Dutchman is confident the Reds still have time to bounce back and qualify for Finals football.

“It’s not nice when you see your team playing like that and we’re definitely a team with some problems and we got confirmation of that today,” Coolen said.

“I’m not looking for excuses because it was very bad…but we have to move and do better because that’s our job and we’re very disappointed.”

“We have too much quality for what we’re doing now and as I mentioned I’m responsible for that, and I’m still looking at the future in a positive way.”