There were a few raised eyebrows when Victory released their line up for today. Toivonen on the bench and Antonis at right back. On the evidence of the first half, it was the wrong choice.

Victory were completely swept away in the first half, but somehow the score was only 2-0. Both goals came from stunning Andrew Hoole free kicks.

The Central Coast midfield stifled everything the Victory could throw at them, but the Central Coast attack didn’t do enough to dominate on the scoreboard.

Victory were a much better team after the break. It could have been Elvis Kamsoba coming on at half time, or maybe there was just something about attacking towards the sauce bottles, but Victory came up with the goals when they had the chances.

Central Coast Mariners

Ben Kennedy - 4

Made some important early stops. He didn’t hold it together in the second half though. He’s culpable for Victory’s equaliser and it was counted as an own goal.

Jonathan Aspropotamitis - 5.5

He dealt with Athiu most of the time. But he needed to do it for an entire 90 minutes. Half a good game isn’t enough.

Kye Rowles - 7.5

Last week he might have pulled off a sensational save but this week he pulled off a whole host of more important plays.

He really stood out for his team in defence tonight. Sadly for the Mariners he couldn’t be everywhere and one of the only times he wasn’t tight on Barbarouses, the Kiwi scored.

Tom Hiariej - 6

Possibly the only Mariner to be consistent through the whole game. He made a nuisance of himself in the first half and played some nice balls in the second. Victory worked it out though.

Matt Millar - 6.5

Many in and around the Central Coast are absolutely livid at the news Millar has signed with the Jets for next season.

He was sent home early from training because of it, but he didn’t show any ill effects in the first half. In fact he looked sharp. But in the second half he was anonymous.

Aiden O’Neill - 6

The Central Coast midfield were brilliant in the first half but they just couldn’t keep that high standard.

Andrew Hoole - 8

Opened the scoring with an absolutely perfect free kick. It looked a little too far out to trouble Thomas but the Victory keeper couldn’t get anywhere near it. Added another that scraped over the wall - two brilliant free kick goals but no points.

Jacob Melling - 7

Defensively he seemed to be everywhere in midfield. In attack he nearly scored a goal of the season contender but Thomas ruined things. His second half was a bit quieter but he was the difference in the first half.

Jordan Murray - 7

Set up a lot of good attacks for his team but never really looked a goal threat himself.

Connor Pain - 7

Didn’t score against his former team for once. He looked good on occasion and he deserved an assist or two.

Matt Simon - 4

Gosh it was funny to see Broxham marking Simon. Somewhere out there, there might be a maths genius who can do the sums to explain how Simon manages to lose header duels to the diminutive Victory defender. 

Simon did well to win the foul for the second goal but otherwise he needed to be more clinical for his team. He had two great chances in this game and he couldn’t convert either.   

Subs

Jem Karacan - 5

Could be lucky not to have seen a red card. He looked angry and frustrated. If he can’t keep his cool when things go against his team he’ll find life at the Mariners very hard.

Tommy Oar - 5

Must have annoyed this ref in a previous game, because he didn’t get the run of the decisions. He looked handy in attack but surely Mike Mulvey needs to find a way to include him in a starting eleven.

Michael McGlinchey N/A

 

Melbourne Victory

Lawrence Thomas - 6

He was guilty of not being quick enough across the ground to stop Hoole’s freekick. However, he followed this up with a good save on a Pain effort.

He also stopped Melling from scoring one of the goals of the season. He couldn’t do much about the second Hoole goal, but he kept his cool during the Mariners' dominance.  

Corey Brown - 5.5

Couldn’t handle Millar down his wing in the first half. He rarely got forward all game and he seemed constantly under pressure. Did well to stop a few crosses with sliding tackles.

Leigh Broxham - 7

How does little Leigh Broxham beat Matt Simon in a heading duel? Because it happened. Twice.

However, it was on the ground that Simon got the better of Broxham. The big striker pulled off an excellent turn to which Leigh’s only answer was a foul outside the box. Hoole scored the free kick. Otherwise the little man was immense.

Thomas Deng - 7

He took charge of Simon in the second half and this was less of a size mismatch.

Terry Antonis - 5.5

It was very surprising to see one of the A League’s best performing Australian midfielders, lining up at right back. He didn’t look comfortable there.

On a few occasions he struggled with the pace of Pain and later Oar. An odd choice for the position and Victory really missed him in the midfield.

Carl Valeri - 4

Went off injured in the first half but during the time he was on the park the Mariners were all over the Victory midfield.

Josh Hope - 5

Needed to put in a good showing tonight but he was not effective. He needed to do more in defence to help Corey Brown. A few good flashes aren’t enough. Came off at halftime.

Raul Baena - 6

He looked handy in attack tonight, especially early in the game.

James Troisi - 7

Finished his second half chance with aplomb but couldn’t help his team out during their first half slump. He set up some great attacks and was only guilty of trying to take the shot on himself a few too many times.

Kosta Barbarouses - 6

He was in Kye Rowles’s pocket nearly all night, but finally wriggled out of there in time to score the winning goal.

Kenny Athiu - 6

It was an improved performance from the big target man tonight but he was very isolated during the first half. His team came out with a better shape in the second half and this really helped him be more effective.

Subs

Anthony Lesiotis - 7

He played the entire second half when Victory turned the game around. He just looked a lot more comfortable than Valeri and generally did his job.

Elvis Kamsoba - 8

Immediately caused trouble with his pace and control. He did very well to set up Troisi’s goal. He’s been a wonderful addition to the Victory team.

Georg Neidermeier - N/A