THE New Tear's Eve match at Bluetongue is always a memorable affair.

The game enjoys significantly larger crowds than normal, as a result of the holiday atmosphere that is created by the preceding free raceday nearby, and the fireworks display that follows on the adjacent waterfront.

The reported crowd this year was 15,500, although in a 20,000 seat stadium this often looks like more. Last season against Melbourne we managed a 17,000 crowd, only to witness Archie Thompson have one of those games where he couldn’t be tackled, and I think a 5-2 hammering was the result (I can’t be bothered remembering the finer detail of this game).

The year before, Mariners supporters enjoyed a much more positive experience of the evening when we beat Sydney FC 4-1, and Damian Mori scored two great goals on the night, as part of a brief but productive spell with the club.

Last night, the game was again memorable, and for two big reasons. Firstly it was Mile Jedinak’s final game for the club, and secondly of course, the Mariners were victorious.

Our opponents were without two key players coming into the game. Both Shroj and Dadi have been two of their best over recent months, and only Shroj’s absence seemed understandable (injury).

Although failing to score last week, Dadi has been a constant threat, and a useful foil for Rukavytsya. He has an excellent first touch, and is extraordinarily strong in holding off defenders. Not to mention both he and ‘Ruka’ have scored a few goals over the season to date.

Former Dutch international Victor Sikora started the game in Dadi’s stead, although inexplicably Dadi didn’t even make the flight.

Sikora looks reasonably sharpish, but it appeared that Perth really missed having a player like Dadi that could hold the ball up and bring others into play. The only real threat Perth possessed was the speed of Downey on the right flank.

In the middle of the park, particularly in the first half, it was all Jedinak. Although he had a quiet game last week against the Jets, he was dominant last night. He showed how much we will miss him, in his ability to get a foot in, make key tackles and break up attacks.

Caceres was given start ahead of Gumps, and worked pretty hard, whilst offering that key ingredient in the final third that every team needs – the preparedness (and skill) to take on a player. A highlight was in the final seconds, where most players would have taken the ball into the corner, and the Perth defenders were anticipating this, Caceres decided to cleverly jink his way into the box and take a shot. On his left foot, the result should have been a lot closer.

Generally, the Mariners were pleasingly dominant in creating the bulk of attacking chances, and diffusing what was a fairly impotent Perth front two. Again, strangely, Perth’s player most likely to create a goal, being ‘Ruka’, was subbed mid way though the second half.

By the 80th minute, the game was poised for one of those players whom could best be described as an enigma, to impart some shrewd genius, and decide the game. Last week it was the much maligned Sasho Petrovski, and this week was the turn of John Hutchinson.

Both of these guys polarise opinion. The analysis around the reasons for this could fill a blog in its own right, so I won’t entertain it here. However Hutch can pull the odd screamer out of nowhere from time to time, and last night’s effort was very timely indeed.

Given I had been trying to re-hydrate with beer (sitting in the sun for 70-odd minutes), my exhortations of joy upon Hutch’s delightful strike, saw me nearly pass out and fall on top of several small children in the row in front. I suspect the delirium around Bluetongue was not dissimilar to mine. It was an appropriate entrée to the fireworks that would follow.

A deserving result for the Mariners, we enter the new year at the top of the table, and more importantly it opens up a pretty large gap between the top 4 and the rest