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| Mariners take the plate pregame. Better late than never |
Despite a 2-0 loss in their away leg to the Brisbane Roar last week the Central Coast Mariners were confident for a big game, being presented the premiers plate before the match commenced.
The Mariners knew their job was to defeat the Roar by two goals or more which would see them to become the first to qualify for the 2011/12 Hyundai A-league Grand Final.
The Mariners have never beaten the Queensland franchise at Bluetongue and have only come up with one win in the past five match ups against Brisbane.
It was a bizarre start to the match with the Roar catching the typically on song keeper Matt Ryan off guard through Thomas Broich, taking Brisbane to a 1-0 lead just after the first minute.
The in swinging free kick from about 40 yards out beat everybody including Ryan to bounce awkwardly into the back of the net untouched, there were appeals of an impeding, offside Mitch Nichols but the Roar were up 3-0 on aggregate.
Joshua Rose had the first real chance for the Mariners in the 19th minute as he drove himself up the middle of the park and muscled past the Roar defence to fire a shot straight at Michael Theoklitos.
In the 25th minute you could almost feel the hearts of the Central Coast sink as Mitch Nichols tapped home a simple opportunity that was created by a probing Henrique pass on the 18 yard box.
Nichols received the ball six yards out and never looked like missing however the gutsy Mariners refused to take their foot off the accelerator.
The current leading goal scorer for the Mariners Patrick Zwaanswijk took it upon himself to get the home side started in the 30th minute as he pulled the trigger from 30 yards out to shoot the ball low and hard into Theoklitos’ bottom left hand corner making the score 2-1.
The Mariners were not giving up despite a 5-1 deficit on aggregate with Zwaanswijk adding to his tally of impressive long-range goals.
Two minutes later the home side were back on level terms as the Roar failed to clear the danger and Adam Kwasnik carefully placed the ball into the same corner as Zwaanswijk making the score 2-2. The Mariners were showing that the best form of defence was attack.
In the 41st minute the crowd were in disbelief as Thomas Rogic shot from distance that was denied by the non-goalkeepers outstretched hand in Henrique.
Replays suggested that the ball had struck the hand of Henrique however the only reward for the Mariners were further boos directed towards the Brazilian.
The remaining minutes of the first half were heated with both sides exchanging big tackles to head into the break at 2-2 with plenty of work left for the Mariners.
The second half brought rain and the Mariners had an intimidating deficit to chase coming out of the break.
The first 10 minutes of the half were cagey with the Mariners creating plenty of chances.
In the 62nd minute Rogic broke through the Roar defence and looked certain to take the lead but a solid shoulder to shoulder challenge by Smith at the back forced his shot wide.
The next to step up was Oli Bozanic who shot from 40 yards out just seconds later and his impressive strike was goal bound but palmed over the cross bar for a corner. As the half continued so did the Mariners dominance as they continued to pressure the Roar.
All it took was a simple lapse of concentration and the Roar were back in front after Henrique was on the end of a pin point ball by Berisha who dribbled around Ryan and tapped it home, the Roar took a 3-2 lead in the 67th minute.
Zwaanswijk showed some more wishful thinking with a shot that was a further 10 yards out from his previous effort that was denied by a full stretched Theoklitos dive.
The remaining 20 minutes drew to an anti climax which resulted in the Brisbane Roar defeating the Central Coast Mariners 3-2 and 5-2 on aggregate, advancing them as the first team into this year’s Hyundai A-league Grand Final to be played at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.
Central Coast Mariners starting 11: Matthew Ryan (gk), Pedj Bojic, Alex Wilkinson (c), Patrick Zwaanswijk, Joshua Rose, John Hutchinson, Michael McGlinchey, Oliver Bozanic, Thomas Rogic, John Sutton, Adam Kwasnik.
Brisbane Roar starting 11: Michael Theoklitos (gk), Matt Smith (c), Shane Stefanutto, Ivan Franjic, Erik Paartalu, Besart Berisha, Massimo Murdocca, Henrique, Mohammed Adnan, Mitch Nichols, Thomas Broich.
Attendance: 9846