New Year’s Eve football returns to Central Coast Stadium tomorrow! After #CCMFC’s final training session of 2015, skipper Nick Montgomery and Head Coach Tony Walmsley previewed Hyundai A-League Round 13 that will see us face Wellington Phoenix.
‘Monty’ has been one of the hardest working players in the Hyundai A-League this season, a revelation in the Mariners’ midfield. Montgomery spoke about the importance of a win to kick-start 2016 and pledged his support towards the younger players.
Have you made plans for New Year’s Eve? Click here to find out what’s happening in Gosford.
“We’ve been saying the last couple of weeks that we need to win games and this is no different, it’s against a good Wellington team, it’s New Year’s Eve, it’s a massive occasion for the Central Coast,” Montgomery said
“We’re going to go out tomorrow and give everything for the fans that will really catapult us into 2016.
“Hopefully we’re due a bit of luck for the start of the New Year and we are going into the Wellington game full of confidence.
“I was proud of the boys against Sydney, after going a man down many teams could have crumbled but we pulled one back and we nearly pulled it back to 3-2 just after half time.
“Young Tom Belle came on, away at Sydney and to put on a performance like he did was magnificent. We’ve got him and Adam Pearce now, two young keepers fighting for the number one spot.
“I debuted in the English Championship at 17 so I know what it feels like, it’s exciting and there’s no pressure on Tommy, he’s not nervous, he’s a confident guy. To be honest he’s pretty cool.
“The opportunity that the young players have got here to make a name for themselves and gain experience quicker than they would anywhere else is fantastic.
“We just need to get back to the performances from the first six or seven rounds and stop conceding silly goals and we’re more than capable of doing it.”
Tony Walmsley
“My ambition when I put a team on the field every week is that they deliver to their potential and we haven’t done that particularly well over the last couple of weeks,” Walmsley said.
“A series of results that have gone against us affects psyche, affects mentality and level of confidence so we need to be better in all areas.
“If you look at Nick Montgomery’s work ethic, there’s no reason why all of our midfielders can’t be putting in the same level of effort so that’s what we’re asking for and I’m excited about that.
“There’s no doubt we’re at our best with Fab Ferreira and Mitch Austin on the wings and both are fit and available and I am confident that they will both start tomorrow.
“A result would be fantastic, we still need to find a performance that we’re happy with which we haven’t been for the last few weeks. Against Brisbane we came close, we conceded a late goal and once the subs were made it could have went either way, it was end to end and we ran out of steam.
“We will be better against Wellington, there’s no doubt about it, Sydney we weren’t good enough and obviously 30 minutes in, three goals down we did well to finish the way we finished.
“If we can find Roy a little bit earlier and get the ball to Fabio and Mitch, we are going to create chances against Wellington.”
Central Coast Mariners: 2.Storm ROUX, 3.Josh ROSE, 4.Jacob POSCOLIERO, 5.Harry ASCROFT, 6.Mitch AUSTIN, 7.Fabio FERREIRA, 8.Nick MONTGOMERY (c), 9.Roy O’DONOVAN, 10.Anthony CACERES, 11.Nick FITZGERALD, 14.Daniel HEFFERNAN, 16.Liam ROSE,19.Josh BINGHAM, 21.Michael NEILL, 22.Jake McGING 23.Tomislav USKOK, 30. Adam PEARCE, (GK) 40.Tom HEWARD-BELLE (GK)
Match details
Thursday 31 December 2015
Match: Central Coast Mariners vs. Wellington Phoenix
Venue: Central Coast Stadium, Gosford
Tickets: CLICK HERE
Kick-off: 7:00pm (AEDT)
TV Broadcast: Live coverage on FOX SPORTS 505
Radio Broadcast: 96.3 Coast FM
Twitter: Join the match conversation using #CCMvWEL & #CCMFC
