Socceroo Jason Cummings bagged a hat-trick and the Joe Marston Medal as the Central Coast Mariners claimed their first championship in a decade in stunning style on Saturday night.
This is the story of the A-League’s smallest club and how they put together a grand final team on a shoestring budget.
Almost five years since the Usain Bolt gimmick,the Central Coast Mariners are into the A-League’s grand final,and have become a model club for this struggling competition.
As Socceroo Jordan Bos contemplates a nearly $2 million move to Belgium,the four clubs left in the A-League finals are putting paid to the adage that you can’t win anything with kids.
Perth Glory coach Ruben Zadkovich will seek answers from the referees department for the second week in a row after his side conceded a controversial penalty in a draw with Central Coast.
After a dismal couple of months for the A-Leagues,this was just the tonic. The sort of game everyone needed – except,of course,the Mariners and Wanderers,who fought out a pulsating 2-2 draw that while thrilling for the neutral,ultimately does little for either team.
Central Coast coach Nick Montgomery was surprised to see City goalkeeper Tom Glover between the sticks after the Melbourne derby controversy.
Garang Kuol,Jason Cummings and Danny Vukovic were back in their day jobs on Sunday,but it was controversy and the underdogs who reigned over the returning Socceroos stars.
Just a day after their defeat to Argentina,the footballers bound for Australia touched down in Sydney and Melbourne – but there’s little time for rest.
Every fan wants to see the Socceroos go as far as they can but the Central Coast Mariners have tens of thousands of extra reasons to hope they can progress.
Garang Kuol is the second-youngest player at the tournament and,if he gets on the pitch,will become the youngest player to represent the Socceroos at a World Cup. To him,though,that little piece of trivia is “just a label” that means nothing unless he performs.