You need nerves of steel to put away a penalty in the 89th minute. Although he did it the hard way, Captain Matt Simon got the end result he wanted to claim a hard earned three points at Central Coast Stadium.
? THE WINNER ?
He did it the hard way, but our skipper keeps his cool to claim three points! #CCMFC #CCMvMCY #ALeague pic.twitter.com/MucD72aO6r
— Central Coast Mariners (@CCMariners) January 16, 2019
Speaking with media after training on Friday, Simon and his troops are faced with a short turnaround when they host Brisbane Roar on Sunday.
Simon also spoke about the motivational speech given by Mariners’ Member Jake Banks on Tuesday afternoon.
A Captain’s knock…
“It was a huge result for the club, I think we’ve been working hard all year towards the win that we got the other night. That’s the first win and now we’ve got to build on things and make sure we back it up on Sunday night.
“We’ve just got to concentrate on what we can control. When we’ve had 11 players on the park, we’ve played some decent football. It was just nice to get that result and build on things now.
That penalty…
“Yeah look I was confident stepping up, I scored one in the previous week against Wellington and I thought he might have been watching where I went the week before so I just decided to give it as much power as possible, always a better chance of it going in and lucky enough it landed straight back towards me and I was able to put it back in.
Banksy’s motivational speech…
“Banksy came in, obviously he comes into training pretty much every week and the day before the game he came in and gave a chat to the boys. He had a bit of a rough Christmas and he was in hospital for a few weeks. So, he just let everyone know, he wanted to apologise why he wasn’t at training. He had a good chat to the boys and I think it lifted everyone’s spirits.
“Everyone gave him all the time he needed to address the team and everyone takes on board what he’s got to say and you know it’s great to have him around the club and you know it way good to have and listen to what he had to say.
Was this the motivational address that inspired Wednesday’s win?
On the eve of our 2-1 win, Banksy addressed the squad. You can’t help but feel motivated by Banksy’s story and outlook on life. Here is your Friday feel good, courtesy of the great Jake Banks. #CCMFC #ALeague pic.twitter.com/P6WGoWdxS2
— Central Coast Mariners (@CCMariners) January 17, 2019
Vocal support at Central Coast Stadium…
“It was a small crowd in the scheme of things but obviously winning the game at the end like that in the last five minutes you could really hear them and you know that’s awesome. So, we’re hoping they can turn up on Sunday again and we get another good result for them.
The importance of a result on Sunday…
“As I say it’s a huge result the other night but it doesn’t mean anything really if we don’t back it up again on Sunday. We’ve just got to concentrate on what we’re trying to do in each game and it’s all about game management, we’re going in confident and belief is back in the camp.
“The goals are to just keep performing, performing how we did the other night and keep grinding games out and getting results and see where that gets us,” Simon said.
Match Details
Sunday, 20 January 2019
Match: Central Coast Mariners vs. Brisbane Roar FC
Venue: Central Coast Stadium, Gosford
Kick-off: 7:00pm (AEDT)
Tickets: CLICK HERE
TV Broadcast: Live coverage on FOX SPORTS AUSTRALIA
Hash-tag: Join the match conversation using #CCMvBRI & #CCMFC
