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Their form leading into the A-League finals couldn’t be more different but Central Coast and Queensland agree it won’t mean a thing on Friday night.
The sides will kick off the 2008/09 finals series at Bluetongue Stadium in the first leg of their minor semi-final between the third and fourth-placed teams.
The Mariners limped into fourth spot, losing their last three matches, while the Roar have been one of the form sides of the competition, posting three wins and a draw in their last four.
But despite recent results, and the fact Central Coast have never beaten Queensland at home in six attempts, both coaches are preparing to head into the game with a clean slate.
“Honestly, I don’t think form from the season proper is going to be a telling factor at all in the finals,” Roar coach Frank Farina said.
“It’s a whole new ball game now.
“We’re pretty high on confidence in the way we’ve been playing and we’ve got a good record there but records are always destined to be broken.”
Mariners coach Lawrie McKinna agreed and felt his side had shown enough in its last three losses – to top four sides Melbourne, Adelaide and the Roar – to still have plenty of confidence in the finals.
“The fact is we limped in (to the finals) but against these three teams we could have won each game if things had gone a little bit our way,” said McKinna, whose side has made three of the four A-League finals series so far.
“We’re deservedly underdogs … but it’s just good to be there.
“We’re the smallest club, always popping back up there and we’re in there with a show and I think any of the four teams can win it.”
Both sides have almost full squads to chose from with the Mariners welcoming back Andrew Clark and Matthew Osman from suspension and injury respectively, although Dean Heffernan misses out through suspension.
Farina has every squad member at his disposal except season casualty Reinaldo.
The match pits together two of the form strikers of the season in Matt Simon and Sergio Van Dijk, who both scored 11 goals to finish one behind top scorer Shane Smeltz.
Van Dijk, who has scored 10 of his goals in his last 10 matches, is the form player of the A-League and could prove the key figure of the finals.
“At the start of the season he copped a lot of stick from our own fans and all of a sudden he’s almost ended up with the golden boot,” Farina said of the Dutchman.
“It’s not just the goals he’s scored, he’s set up six or seven as well, so he’s been pivotal in our success and we’ll need him in form if we’re going to get through.
The teams will meet again at Suncorp Stadium next Friday with the overall winner to face the loser of the major semi-final between Melbourne and Adelaide, starting Sunday.
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