Central Coast Mariners returned to winning ways with a dominant 2-0 triumph over Wellington Phoenix at Bluetongue Stadium on Saturday.
Tomas Rogic’s second sublime strike in as many weeks gave the Mariners the lead their first half dominance deserved early in the second half, before Dutch defender Patrick Zwaanswijk headed home in the 83rd minute to ensure the Mariners wouldn’t be pegged back by Ricki Herbert’s men in the final stages of the entertaining encounter.
From the outset the home side was full of running, and this attacking approach nearly netted the opener in just the second minute. Tomas Rogic showed great skill to round Wellington goalkeeper Mark Paston and tee up Michael McGlinchey, but the Scottish-raised, New Zealand international’s shot was well saved.
Soon after, the Mariners ought to have taken the lead when in an amazing passage of play they had four chances to beat Paston but were unable to do so.
Playing in his first match in Australia, English striker Sutton looked promising, holding the ball up well and firing off shots when the opportunity arose.
It took 21 minutes but the Phoenix’s first shot on goal was a spectacular effort from Chris Greenacre. The striker threw his whole body into the volley but was unable to keep his strike down.
Phoenix custodian Mark Paston was arguably the busiest player on the pitch, however everything that the Mariners threw at the talented shot-stopper he managed to palm away. Twice the experienced goalkeeper thwarted Adam Kwasnik who was proving to be a handful for the Wellington defence.
After the interval it was Rogic, the name on the lips of every fan after his scintillating performance against Melbourne Victory at AAMI Park last week, who opened the scoring. Picking the ball up in midfield, Rogic’s curling left foot shot left Paston with no chance as it nestled in the corner of the net.
And while Mariners custodian Justin Pasfield was forced into a sharp reaction save from a strong Chris Greenacre header in the 58th minute, it was really the only main threat the visitors managed to conjure against a stern Central Coast backline.
As the clock wound down and Graham Arnold’s team continued to attack, Patrick Zwaanswijk sealed the points with a textbook header – his sixth goal of the season.
Post match, a pleased Mariners boss Arnold said it was the way his team performed on difficult surface that satisfied him most.
“It’s more about the performance and I thought the football performance tonight was first class,” Arnold said. “It’s great to see us play like that again.”
“I thought that our football performance tonight was what I was looking for. That’s the way we want to play, short passes, and it was on a difficult surface, but overall I couldn’t be more happy about the way the boys played.”
Quizzed about the impact of new recruit John Sutton, Arnold said he thought the burly marksman fitted in well with the team unit.
“I was very happy with his performance, I knew what I was getting and the type of player I wanted to give us something totally different to what we’ve got,” he said.
“I thought his performance was excellent.”
Match Details
Central Coast Mariners 2 (Rogic 52’, Zwaanswijk 83’)
Wellington Phoenix 0
Central Coast Mariners: 20. Justin PASFIELD (GK), 3. Joshua ROSE, 4. Pedj BOJIC, 6. Patrick ZWAANSWIJK, 7. John HUTCHINSON, 8. Rostyn GRIFFITHS, 14. Michael McGLINCHEY, 17. Tomas ROGIC (2. Daniel McBREEN 76’), 18. Alex WILKINSON (C), 19. John SUTTON (12. Troy HEARFIELD 89’), 23. Adam KWASNIK (9. Bernie IBINI 61’)
Subs not Used: 31. Brody CRANE (GK)
Yellow Cards: Sutton 8’, Kwasnik 57’
Red Cards: None
Wellington Phoenix: Mark PASTON (GK), 2. Emmanuel MUSCAT, 3. Tony LOCHHEAD (19. James DOWNEY 85’), 4. Brent GRIFFITHS, 7. Leo BERTOS, 8. Paul IFILL, 9. Chris GREENACRE (12. Nicholas WARD 71’), 17. Vince LIA, 18. Ben SIGMUND (C), 21. Daniel SANCHEZ (11. Daniel CORTES 65’), 24. Alexander SMITH
Subs not Used: 20. Anthony WARNER (GK)
Yellow Cards: Muscat 88’
Red Cards: None
Referee: Strebre DELOVSKI
Crowd: 7,845 at Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford