Substitute Troy Hearfield earned Central Coast a massive scalp as his well-taken goal gave the Mariners a 1-0 win over the Scottish soccer giant Celtic in a pre-season friendly at ANZ Stadium on Saturday night.
The match between last season’s Australian and Scottish league runners-up produced few clear cut chances.
But new recruit Hearfield, formerly of Wellington and Newcastle, curled in a shot from the edge of the area in the 87th minute after Celtic had failed to clear a cross from the left.
Another second half substitute, Trent Sainsbury, cleared the ball off the line just before the end of the 90 minutes, as Celtic had an appeal for hand ball turned down.
Neither goalkeeper was forced into a significant save in the first half.
Celtic put a couple of attempts wide and the Mariners had a good spell just before the break, forcing several corners and having two shots blocked.
Clearly not enthused by the on-field fare, a few spectators in the 19,482-strong crowd tried to create their own entertainment by running on to the field during the halftime break and in the second half.
Attacking the end where the biggest block of their supporters were gathered, Celtic showed a little more urgency in the second half.
The game finally came to life after an hour, with each side earning good chances within the space of a minute.
Mariners goalkeeper Justin Pasfield foiled substitute Anthony Stokes with his legs before Adriano Pellegrino headed wide from a cross from impressive Mariners leftback Josh Rose.
Celtic handed debuts to two off-season signings, defenders Adam Matthews and Kelvin Wilson, and included just three starters from their Scottish Cup final-winning team.
The Mariners started with six of their run-on side from the A-League grand final loss to Brisbane Roar.
Celtic play Perth Glory next Saturday and Melbourne Victory four days later.
They start their domestic campaign in five weeks, while the Mariners still have more than three months before their first A-League fixture.
Hearfield was playing his first game for the Mariners following a spell in Indonesia.
“Pretty much as soon as I hit it, it was one of those ones that you just know when it was going in,” Hearfield said.
Mariners’ coach Graham Arnold felt his team performed exceptionally well.
“I think our defensive structure was again fantastic but just our execution in the final third was a bit rusty,” Arnold said.
He felt it was definitely the best time of the tour to catch Celtic, who only arrived in Australia on Wednesday.
Celtic coach Neil Lennon was very pleased with his team’s effort given the short preparation time for the game.
“The players condition and the quality, particularly second half, it was a remarkable performance when you consider the week they’ve been through,” Lennon told reporters.
“They’ve been travelling all the way over on Tuesday and Wednesday and then one day’s training, played very very well second half and controlled the game.
“I thought they scored with their one shot on target but overall I’m delighted with the performance.”
He felt referee Matthew Breeze could have awarded two penalties, one for a handball and another for a foul in the closing minutes but praised the Mariners and was especially impressed with Rose.
Nathan
Guest
Good job, CCM!
Chris
Guest
Did ANY promotion exist for this match? I had no idea it was on until the reports came in the next day about it. I agree with Atawhai Drive about holding the game up at Gosford. Would have been great for the footballing community up there. But of course these sorts of games aren't about that are they...
Epiquin
Guest
I was working at the stadium and it was definately celtic fans who were causing the trouble. most of the mariners supporters were families.
nordozzz
Roar Guru
agree bluetongue would have been superb ... though it was the promoters being paid by ANZ Stadium a guaranteed fee which made the tour more feasible all round. It turned into a celtic home game which was the point i guess rather than Mariners hosting. The next two are at smaller grounds in Melb and Perth, AAMI park should be perfect for atmosphere. I do think us fans within striking distance of Sydney are being dudded if too many of these games that don't draw the 60+k type crowds are played at Homebush.
Uncle Bob
Guest
A-League turns out to be better than the SPL. Not terribly surprising actually.
Mick
Guest
I forgot about it. Is fox sports got a replay on as I can not find it on their guide?
Midfielder
Guest
The little club that should not ... does it again...
pete4
Guest
CCM deserved the win and were impressive this far out from our season proper. Celtic were disappointing (even their one-eyed supporters I spoke to admitted it)
Atawhai Drive
Guest
The crowd numbered 19,482, in a stadium which in rectangular mode has a capacity of 83,500. Bluetongue Stadium in Gosford has a capacity of 20,119. Imagine how electric the atmosphere would have been if the match had been played at Gosford. Another opportunity wasted.
Titus
Guest
It's the Scots and the Irish, they don't share our values.
Ricardo Runhard Yo
Guest
11 People arrested ... I wont assume the 11 were drunken tourists but realy Oz footy fans know better these days knowing the media latch onto anything of interest. Would be interesting to know how many off field incidents are caused by tourists.
Midfielder
Guest
Got a fair bit of this summary from our forum... from a guy called ""style""' but have changed some things and added a bit... I thoroughly enjoyed the game we had 60% of possession.... we played the better football .. by far the better football I think Celtic were stunned at how swift & accurate our passing game was.We knocked the ball around so well for our first big hitout, whereas Celtic just didn`t look composed at all. Passfield...6 looked a bit shakey throughout & bar the 1 on 1 save didn`t have much to do.He can`t hit a ball anywhere near as good as Matty Ryan The backs Rose,Dutchy & Pedj ...7 all played solidly & stood up to the Celtic players. Griffith...9 was outstanding for mine.He gave nothing away & dominated the opposition he was my best on park Pelligrino.. 7.5 very impressive perfomance,he looked a lot better than Perez did in his first game. Weemac.. 7.5 was given the honour of leading the team & he really gave it to his ex team-mates Olly..5 I think he`s game has suffered under Vidmar,his passing was terrible.To many passes were under hit,didn`t find their target or were intercepted by the opposition. Hutcho...4.. I love his passion but IMO he`ll be with the yoof for most of the season Bernie...6 Did well in the first half but was completely owned in the second.I`m sure he`ll learn a lot from games like this McBreen...1 hope we can organise a loan spell in Indonesia until the end of his contract? Sainsbury...I predict him to have a great year.... came on late but very very stable Baird...took the pressure off Bernie & made Mcbreen look third rate... however making McBreen look third rate is not that hard TBH... McDonald ... not sure he looked ok, fitted in well & if Olly doesn`t pick up could find himself a spot out wide ... but need to see a tad more of em... Hearfield...limited time & opportunities but scored the goal of his life.I hope he can score a lot more this season Gallagher.....to come on late & play like he did was a sensational effort.He will give GA a lot of options.... this kid is something special ... Porter....unless we have a lot of injuries I can`t really see him in the top grade. I hope he does well as he is a true local but I just think that missing the whole of 2010/11 we cost him dearly. Yellow Army- did a fantastic job! They were outnumbered by about 7,000 to 150 but bravely cheered their team.It was so good to see them giving it to the Celtic supporters when we scored.... you could hear the .""" Who R YA """ from where I was sitting on the half way line.. Celtic...to be honest I thought they were very poor & didn`t rise to the occasion for their loyal & passionate fans.... as I said they looked stunned like they tho we just have to turn up ... they never expected how were held the ball and kept shape