Ahead of our round 10 meeting with Sydney FC on Saturday night, take a look back at five classic clashes between the two teams.
First Meeting
Sydney FC 2 (Packer 13’, Yorke 72’) def. by Central Coast Mariners 3 (Petrie 20’, Gumprecht 35’, Spencer 91’) (16.09.05)
In our very first Hyundai A-League meeting with Saturday’s opponents we claimed all three points thanks to a last gasp winner from Noel Spencer. Sydney took an early lead, Andrew Packer opening the scoring in the 13th minute. Stewart Petrie’s penalty levelled the scores, and then Andre Gumprecht put the Mariners ahead with his maiden goal for the Yellow & Navy. The spoils looked to be shared when Dwight Yorke levelled in the 72nd minute, but after a nail-biting final act, the Mariners returned to the coast triumphant with Spencer’s dramatic last-minute strike.
Last Minute Heartache
Central Coast Mariners 4 (Jedinak 3’, Aloisi 16’, Owens 63’ pen, Kwasnik 86’) def. by Sydney FC 5 (Fyfe 33’, McFlynn 50’, Biddle 71’, Santalab 76’, Talay 93’ pen) (22.12.07)
We travel back to 2007 for our next iconic fixture. This time, it was the Central Coast that suffered the last-minute heartache, a 95th minute penalty handing the Sky Blues the win. Mile Jedinak and John Aloisi fired the Central Coast into an early 2-0 lead, before Iain Fyfe and Terry McFlynn responded to pull the scores level. After goals from Adam Biddle & Brendon Santalab for Sydney and Greg Owens & Adam Kwasnik for the Coast, the two teams entered extra time with four goals apiece. Adam Kwasnik was shown red for handling on the line, and Ufuk Talay dispatched from the spot to close out what former Sydney manager John Kosmina dubbed the “best A-League game ever”.
Goals, goals, goals
Central Coast Mariners 7 (Rogic 16’, 62’, Ryall OG 29’, McBreen 39’ pen, 65’, 67’, McGlinchey 55’) def. Sydney FC 2 (Yau 8’, Abbas 54’) (03.11.12)
No Mariners faithful could ever forget this night. In one of the mre one-sided A-League fixtures, the Mariners handed the Sky Blues an absolute thrashing at Bluetongue stadium in 2012. The match started well for the visitors, Yairo Yau deftly chipping the ball over Matt Ryan within the first ten minutes. Tom Rogic swiftly responded, pouncing on a loose ball in the box after the 16th minute to level the scores, and from there, the game turned into one-way traffic. Seb Ryall’s own goal handed the Mariners a lead that was compounded by Daniel McBreen slotting home a penalty just before half time. Sydney snatched a second consolation once they returned from the sheds, but any chances of a comeback were quickly extinguished by Michael McGlinchey’s long range cracker. Tom Rogic added his second strike to the scoresheet, and McBreen rounded out the evening with a header from inside the box and a composed strike to complete his hat trick.
Last Victory
Central Coast Mariners 2 def. (Hoole 19’, McGing 55’) Sydney FC 0 (10.11.17)
Our most recent victory against the Sky Blues was a comfortable 2-0 win in 2017. Former Sydney player Andrew Hoole came back to haunt the reigning champions, opening the scoring for the Mariners’ first win of the season. Danny De Silva created space down the right, trading passes with Connor Pain and Asdrubal before the ball found Hoole, who wrong-footed Sydney shot-stopper Andrew Redmayne. Hoole then turned provider, floating in a beautiful corner for Jake McGing to head in the Mariners’ second entry on the scoresheet. This put the game out of sight for the visitors, and the Yellow and Navy claimed a well-deserved three points.
Most Recent Clash
Sydney FC 1 (Le Fondre 76’ pen) drew. Central Coast Mariners 1 (O’Neill 36’) (17.02.19)
When last the Mariners and the Sky Blues met, the spoils were shared, both teams scoring once in a in a relatively equal game. The Mariners were spurred to action after Sydney struck the post in the opening exchanges, and Aiden O’Neill took the lead for the Central Coast. A half-cleared corner from the right fell to O’Neill on the edge of the box, who calmly controlled and curled beyond Redmayne into the bottom right corner. The Sky Blues struck back from the penalty spot through Adam Le Fondre, who dispatched into the exact same corner as O’Neill’s earlier effort.
