Sun 21st Jan 2007

The Central Coast Mariners have ended their second Hyundai A-League campaign with a 3-1 loss to finals bound Adelaide United at Bluetongue Central Coast Stadium tonight.

The Mariners thus finished the 2006/07 season in sixth place, with Tom Pondeljak’s second half lob, arguably the Central Coast’s most spectacular goal of the season, the home sides only joy in response to Nathan Burns’ hat trick – the first and only three goal haul of the Hyundai A-League regular season.

In a match that provided a fitting snapshot of the Mariners’ fortunes this season, the yellow and navy were simply a class below their opponents in many key areas – not least their poise in front of goal.

Several opportunities for the home side to either reduce the deficit or draw level were spurned, with leading marksman Adam Kwasnik slotting a golden chance from the penalty spot wide of the goal early in the second half when the Mariners were trailing by one.

Teenage sensation Burns set the tone for the match with the opening goal in the just the tenth minute, before doubling and then tripling Adelaide’s advantage in the second stanza.

Pondeljak reduced the visitors lead to two with a twenty-metre speculator in the 77th minute, which encouraged the 8,128 spectators on hand – a figure that saw the Mariners surpass two significant attendance milestones.

In total, the turnstiles at Bluetongue Central Coast Stadium clicked a record 108,112 times for Hyundai A-League matches in 2006/07; with 131,824 the grand total of patrons for Mariners matches this campaign, including the Pre-Season Cup.

While the off-field numbers were heartening, the on-field performance was dubbed by Mariners Football Manager Lawrie McKinna as the worst performance in the history of the two-season-old club.

"I’d say, without doubt, that is the worst I’ve seen us play in two seasons," said McKinna.

"Full credit to Adelaide, they’re a great team and I know that they will give a good account of themselves in the finals series, but we handed it to them on a platter tonight.

"Determination and work ethic were hardly found amongst our team tonight – two of the traits that made us such a successful side last season."

As has been the case for much of the Mariners’ season, McKinna was forced into several changes leading into the match, with Pondeljak, Tony Vidmar and Vuko Tomasevic recalled in place of the injured Paul O’Grady and Damien Brown, while Mile Jedinak’s short-term contract had expired.

Matthew Trott also made his belated debut between the sticks, replacing incumbent custodian Danny Vukovic for the first time since debuting as a Central Coast squad member in early December, 2005.

Trott was in the thick of the action early on and made a number of key saves throughout the match, while at the other end; Pondeljak was at his diminutive best and combining well with the likes of Andre Gumprecht and Kwasnik.

Pondeljak’s deft strike thirteen minutes from full time was no less than the former Socceroo deserved for a standout performance, which was regrettably just his eleventh of the Hyundai A-League regular season.

"Our supporters deserve much more than what they got tonight and I can promise each of them that they will not see a performance like that from us next season," said McKinna.

"On behalf of everyone at the Mariners, from the directors, administration, players and coaching staff, I’d like to offer a sincere thanks to everyone that has supported our club both at our Bluetongue Central Coast Stadium home and around Australia this season,"

"Unfortunately we’ve missed out on a place in the top four, but our supporters can be assured that we will be doing all that we can to improve upon all aspects of our performances from this season, so that we find ourselves placed back amongst the elite teams in the Hyundai A-League in 2007/08."

MATCH DETAILS

Central Coast Mariners Matthew Trott (gk), Noel Spencer, Bradley Porter, Andre Gumprecht (Matt Simon 46’), Jamie McMaster (John Hutchinson 59’), Tom Pondeljak, Tony Vidmar, Vuko Tomasevic, Matthew Osman, Alex Wilkinson, Adam Kwasnik

Unused Subs Andrew Clark, Danny Vukovic (gk)

Yellow Cards None
Red Cards None
Goals Pondeljak 77’

Adelaide United Daniel Beltrame (gk), Richie Alagich, Angelo Costanzo, Michael Valkanis, Ross Aloisi (Kristian Rees 68’), Matthew Kemp, Fernando (Bruce Djite 46’), Travis Dodd, Nathan Burns (Greg Owens 72’), Bobby Petta, Diego

Unused Subs Robert Bajic (gk)

Yellow Cards Owens 74’
Red Cards None
Goals Burns 10’, 50’, 66’

Referee Simon Pryzdacz
Crowd 8,128