It's official. Mike Mulvey’s Central Coast Mariners have had the worst start to a season in A-League history, knocking the now decommissioned New Zealand Knights off their lowly perch.
The story of the 45thedition of the F3 Derby is best summed up by the two sets of fans at full-time this afternoon.
At the sauce-bottle end, the numerous bays of travelling Jets fans were celebrating like they had won the Grand Final, while at the brass-band end, the Mariners fans held up a banner reading ‘303 days since last win'.
That number is now 304.
one of the great A-League tifos from CCM tonight, an excellent job intimidating their own team #CCMvNEW pic.twitter.com/nwiznKHWiB
— F (@GrouseGrant) December 23, 2018
A sleepy first-half at Central Coast Stadium ended with a bang as both teams gathered for a derby style push-and-shove, with Connor Pain and Ronnie Vargas the centre of attention.
But it was the Jets who had the last laugh, as they piled on two second half goals to nail an important come-from-behind win and heap the pressure on Mariners boss Mike Mulvey.
After nine games, CCM remain firmly routed to the bottom of the table, with just two points, joined by Mulvey’s former side Brisbane Roar, who sit on just six points.
Central Coast Mariners
Adam Pearce- 6
Saved a decent Petratos free kick in the 26thminute but conceded a very poor goal from Hoffman’s header. Not at fault for Vargas’s beautiful finish late on.
Matt Millar- 7
Hugely involved early and provided a fantastic assist for the opening goal. One of the Mariners' better players on the day.
Antony Golec- 6
Intercepted some incisive passes but failed to lay a single tackle all day. Not good enough, especially in a derby.
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