Central Coast Mariners ran out comfortable winners against Perth Glory on Sunday, in the first game of our action packed Onside With The Mariners Charity Round Double Header.
Alou Kuol broke the deadlock early on but Perth hit back quickly through Nicholas Pennington. A thrilling opening period then saw the Mariners retake the lead through Mikael Doka’s penalty.
In the second half, Christian Theoharous rounded off the scoring with the pick of the goals on the day, firing past Oli Sail from the edge of the box.
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🔢 Line-Up
Starting XI: Peraic-Cullen (GK), Kaltak, Sainsbury (C), Theoharous, McCalmont, Kuol, Doka, Feijao, Mauragis, Steele, Paull.
Substitutions:
62′ ON: Di Pizio, Duarte OFF: Theoharous, Kuol
73′ ON: Faisal OFF: Feijao
83′ ON: Roux, Herrington OFF: Sainsbury, Mauragis
Unused subs: Warshawsky (GK), Scicluna.
Your Mariners to host Perth Glory this afternoon🫡#CCMFC #CCMvPER #RideTheWave🌊 pic.twitter.com/QkDsaIg25L
— Central Coast Mariners (@CCMariners) March 30, 2025
First Half
The Mariners hit the front after just five minutes, with Kuol getting a deft headed touch on Alfie McCalmont’s cross to beat Sail.
Perth equalised at the other end through another header, Pennington meeting Jaylan Pearman’s corner with a powerful header to level the scores on nine minutes.
The Mariners then got given a golden opportunity to go back in front on 21 minutes, as Doka was blatantly fouled by Pearman in the box and the referee had no option but to point to the spot.
The Brazilian stepped up himself and confidently dispatched from 12-yards, sending Sail the wrong way as his effort found the bottom corner.
There continued to be chances at both ends in an entertaining first half, Kuol curled an effort just over the bar on 23 minutes, whilst Glory’s best chance came for Patrick Wood, but Dylan Peraic-Cullen got a strong hand to the ball to keep it out.
Second half
Glory’s best chance of the second half came just two minutes after the restart as the usually-prolific Adam Taggart glanced a header wide from close range.
The Mariners were much more clinical on the day and made Perth pay on 58 minutes as Theoharous’ rocket put the Mariners into a much more comfortable, two-goal lead.
On 68 minutes, substitute Miguel Di Pizio tricked his way into the box with a clever nutmeg on Josh Risdon, but his right-footed shot was saved by Sail.
In added time, Risdon hit the crossbar with a curling effort, the closest Perth came to reducing the deficit as the Mariners saw the game out to take all three points.
▶️ Post-match reaction via Central Coast Mariners YouTube
Watch the full highlights below, with further match reaction including Mark Jackson’s full post-match press conference, available via Central Coast Mariners on YouTube.
🌴 Next Up
The next action at Our Paradise is on April 11th as our Ninja A-League side host Melbourne Victory, with just a point needed from the final two games to make finals.
Our Men now face back-to-back away games against Melbourne City and Newcastle Jets, before they will look to finish the season strongly at home to Macarthur (April 20th) and Brisbane Roar (May 2nd).
