SUPPORTING a football team comes with many hazard: anxiety, adrenaline highs, stomach upsets from dodgy stadium food.

But supporting the Mariners should come with a specific Government Health Warning : "May Induce Paranoia".

Just as fans of Man United often face widespread dislike from other football supporters, Mariners fans must accept our designated role as the most consistently underrated and unfashionable team in the A-League. Again and again we watch the club's achievements and initiatives given limited recognition, knowing full well that the same things would be big news if they happened in Melbourne or Sydney.

As one Mariners' fan slogan goes "No-one rates us, we don't care". But I do care. Like my colleague Mark, I watched the team put in a very solid performance against Pohang on Wednesday night and felt very positive after the match. Then I came home and saw the headlines : "Dull Game" and "Mariners lucky to get a draw".

Watching the game live was far from "dull". Perhaps it was the ref's whistle every two minutes (a statistic, not an exaggeration) that slowed the game down.

And Lucky ? Lucky ?!! There was no luck involved, as far as I could see. The Mariners worked hard and defended as a team, playing better than they had in months. If this is the shape of things to come, the team has every right to feel good.

Getting a draw against the Korean FA Cup winners in your first ACL match ever is not something to be ashamed of. I have no doubt that if Sydney FC had been playing Pohang, the headlines would have been very different. Instead of "lucky" we would have seen "Spirited Sydney Hold on for Draw" or "Sydney Make Positive Start". But this is The Mariners - everything they do ends up downgraded.

Headlines are bad enough but looking at the Official ACL Program induces an even greater sense of frustration. The Mariners are listed as qualifying by being "League Runner-up", Newcastle as "League Champions". What the ...?! As far as I understand it, we qualified as "Premiers".  Whoever provided this information to the AFC apparently "doesn't like us" either.

Or perhaps they're just incredibly out of touch. The Mariners team photo is at least a year old and features Aloisi, Pondeljiak and Vidmar, while the Jets photo shows Joel Griffiths and Tarek Elrich fondling each other. A bit unlikely when you play on different continents.

The program also underrates the Mariners chances, despite the fact we finished in the Top Four while Newcastle were bottom of the table. Under the heading "Expectations" CCM are described as "without the foreign talent boasted by their rivals, will struggle". The Jets, on the other hand, "have a tough road ahead but have made some inspired signings".

Really ? Well, those "inspired signings" didn't shape up too well in the match against Beijing, as far as I could see. Comparing the two matches, it was the Mariners who maintained focus and concentration right until the end, with Vukes making an excellent save in injury time. Newcastle, on the other hand, let a second goal in during injury time. Despite the pundits negative predictions, as usual, the Mariners have made a far better start.

Now I'm not saying we set the world on fire last week, but there were so many positives to come out of the match. Huke, despite his "humble" origins, has made a big difference in midfield and Heff was back with a vengeance. And how good was it to see Elrich back on the pitch ? He is bound to be a force to be reckoned with in the weeks ahead.

The Mariners have clearly lifted themselves out of the slump they faced at the end of last season and can face the match against Tianjin with renewed vigour. This is a team that cannot be matched for hard work, unity and sheer determination.

So - underrate us, dismiss us, ignore our achievements, make endless negative posts on blogs. Jealousy is a curse. We're proud to wear that cool, classic new Mariners strip as we represent our country on the world stage.

Bring on the slings and arrows, if you dare - what doesn't kill us only makes us stronger.