- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
As the dust settles on a great encounter at Central Coast Stadium on Sunday afternoon between the Mariners and the Sky Blues, I just want to say one thing. Thank you Central Coast Mariners.
For my wife and kids it was their first away fixture and I cleverly choreographed the trip to coordinate with a friend’s birthday lunch on Monday.
If the future of football in Australia is anything like the event we experienced as a family on Sunday afternoon, then we are in very good hands.
We are Sydney FC through and through, well not so much the family, more me, yet the strategic use of osmosis has led to a couple of cute little kids in Sydney jerseys and a wife who… well, we’ll get back to her later.
Driving into Gosford and seeing the stadium on the left is a beautiful sight. The nets were up, unfortunately it was too early for the infamous sauce bottles, yet the pitch looked in good shape. The girls were pumped by one o’clock and the pride I took in seeing young Aussie kids ‘on tour’ for a football match was immeasurable.
We checked in to a nice little place up at Wyoming called ‘The Willows’ and during our afternoon swim in the pool caught up with around twenty young men, all Sydney fans, and played pool football.
The rules of this particular contest are tough to recall and define. One guy stood pool side while the others, including us, floated around waiting for the ball to be thrown in, so we could all attempt a header and return the ball past the thrower before he could react, thus scoring a goal.
I didn’t score once, my eldest had a couple of good cracks at it, yet the guy outside the pool was actually a pretty good ‘keeper. One guy named Ahmed was awesome, he scored four times and after each goal launched into a celebration that would have drawn a yellow every time.
After showers were taken, we slowly began to realise just how many Sydney fans were at the motor inn. Being a Sunday, Mann Street was not heavily populated and we caught sight of countless blue jerseys ducking in to the local establishments all along the strip.
Seeing a thirty to forty-deep queue at the box office was pleasing. That might seem a little counter-intuitive, yet the atmosphere was brewing nicely and seeing the looks on my girls faces as they felt the energy building, was worth the wait.
With thirty minutes until kickoff ‘the Cove’ arrived in full voice. The Mariners fans I was alongside in the queue turned and smiled. The Cove announced their presence, as they do, yet were derailed by the announcement, via loudspeaker, that the gate by which they had hoped to enter was closed and they would need to use the rather crammed one nearby.
I must admit, a lot of people held their breath, I think the Mariners fans might have feared some sort of aggressive response. After a few moans and rumbles, the Cove lurched towards the appropriate gates. The bag checker who dealt with our little section was a happy fella yet still, unfortunately, felt the need to use a stereotype.
I said to him, ‘I think the Cove thought they could get in via that other gate.’ He replied, ‘You don’t wanna tell them they can’t do something, that’s a recipe for trouble.’
We were in in great mood for football and as much as I wondered what he meant by ‘them’, I let it slide and took the family in to the navy seating on the western sideline.
My wife was a little concerned by this stage. ‘Are we sitting in the shade? Will we be able to see? I’ve got a headache from the sun you know? Is Trump really going to build that wall? Do they have sushi here?’
Both kids gave me the, ‘who brought her look’, and we all smiled realising two things. How much we love her and how bringing her to a sporting contest is the stupidest thing to do. A third fact was realised by both kids and enunciated by my little one who said, ‘ Mum doesn’t really get football does she dad?’
Some questions are rhetorical, even for a nine year old.
The Mariners fans were jovial, keen and loud in the lead up. My girls are still learning much about the game and were fascinated by the pre-game sprinklers, the drone sauce bottle that ominously flew around the stadium looking as though it would crash at any time and the sheer size and power of the players as they completed their warm up.
Sitting slightly toward the Sydney goal-scoring end in the first half was exciting, as expectation grew after a dominant display early from the sky blues. Filip Holosko was denied by a great Paul Izzo save before Bobo produced a wonderful first touch and strike to score minutes before the break.
Three rows from front, the kids were impressed, not only with the goal but also with the power, impact and strength in the tackles, that is conveyed so much more effectively in person than through television.
The half had flown and a water and wine top up was required. My wife wondered off somewhere and met a group of female Mariners fans who tried to convert her, obviously sensing her apathy toward the contest. She came back to her seat wearing a Mariners cap. I gave her that look that only exists between married people and she told me it was ‘to cope with the sun.’
Was this woman trying to ruin my afternoon?
Milos Ninkovic has become something of a hero to both kids this year and the subtle touch he used to provide for the second was beautiful.
Sydney FC will probably claim the goals they allowed were based purely on defensive lapses, however after an initially good start for the Sky Blues, the Mariners found some run and began to create some width in attack. The chances they created were well deserved.
They ran at Sydney like they believed they could score, something other teams could learn from. On a warm afternoon, it seemed clear that the run of Ryhan Grant and Michael Zullo is so vital for Sydney. As they began to tire the opportunities to get behind the Mariners lessened and the boys from the Central Coast started to make headway.
]
Roy O’Donovan headed home at the back post and while pulling back one was commendable, the Fabio Ferreira miss from the penalty spot might have crushed a lesser team. Not the Mariners however, they dug deep and managed to force a second through Scott Galloway, with the Sydney boys looking forlorn from the ensuing kickoff.
The introduction of David Carney was vital once again and his much needed run down the left led to the match winner despite questions over its legitimacy. The go ahead goal happened before anyone really had the chance to blink and the game seen done and dusted.
Once again, the Mariners lifted and provided a final ten to remember, as they launched attack after attack on the Sydney goal.
In the end it stayed three-two and Graham Arnold’s men marched on, yet to taste defeat in the league and the Mariners remain entrenched near bottom. In fact, if Adelaide manage a win against Melbourne City this week, they will sit rock bottom.
For me, the Mariners are nowhere near bottom. Moreover, they are somewhere near the top. A beautiful stadium, wonderfully reasonably minded supporters who cheered their team without vitriol or confrontation and a wonderful atmosphere to the whole contest, are all testament to the identity of both the club and the fans.
Central Coast Leagues was a great place to enjoy a meal after the game and a scotch fillet with peppercorn sauce, washed down with a mighty bold Shiraz that tasted of victory, is my recommendation if anyone is in the neighbourhood.
Much is made of crowds, growth and culture in the A-League. If Central Coast is anything to go by, the A-League is doing just fine. At seventy bucks for a family of four ticket, the value is reasonable.
If the fair minded nature of the fans is representative of the broader fan-base in the league, then the attractiveness of an A-League game for families is high.
If this is what football looks like for my two kids as they grow up, then we are doing a whole lot right.