Mark Hughes at Bluetongue Central Coast Stadium
The Central Coast Mariners have maintained their place at the top of the Hyundai A-League with a solid 1-0 win over the Perth Glory in an eventful round five clash at Bluetongue Central Coast Stadium on Sunday evening.
Sasho Petrovski, who had en effervescent game in attack, scored the winner 10 minutes from full-time after it appeared the game would end in a 0-0 stalemate with neither side having a clear ascendancy or creating definitive goal-scoring chances.
The result sees the Mariners maintain their unbeaten start to the season and go four points clear at the top, while Perth slumps to last place with just three scoreless draws to its credit.
The Mariners went into the match without in-form striker Nik Mrdja but with talisman Damian Mori, who had been signed to the club on a short-term injury contract, stepping in to partner Petrovski up front.
But it was the Glory who had the better of the early chances and they missed a golden opportunity in the eighth minute when Mitchell Prentice swung a free-kick into the Mariners box only for Jordan Simpson to volley over the bar from just six yards out.
The Mariners had their fist real opportunity in the 20th minute when Nigel Boogaard lobbed his volley from a corner just inches over the bar.
Just two minutes later, Mori should have opened the scoring when he mistimed his shot from point-blank range after Petrovski found him with a deft pass from the edge of the area.
The home side managed to wrestle control of the match, and Adam Kwasnik was allowed a couple of chances towards the end of the half, a header that went over the bar and a full-blooded drive that was well saved by Glory glovesman Tom Tomich to leave the teams locked 0-0 at half-time.
The Mariners hit the ground running in the second half with Petrovski narrowly missing with two bullet-like strikes from just outside the area in the space of two minutes and fullback Dean Heffernan emerging as a real threat down the left flank.
The Glory went agonisingly close to breaking the deadlock in the 67th minute when James Robinson headed David Micevski's pin-point cross past Danny Vukovic in the Mariners goal only to see his shot rattle off the crossbar.
The Mariners deservedly went in front in the 80th minute when Kwasnik took a quick free kick in midfield to send Petrovski into attack. He slid the ball out to Andre Gumprecht, who tore down the right wing and took the ball to the edge of area before crossing back for Petrovski to side-foot a shot past Tomich for a goal.
Jamie Coyne almost handed the Mariners a second just a few moments later when he put too much pace on a back pass that beat Tomich only to find the side netting.
Gumprecht and Mori had chances to add to the Mariners tally late in the match but couldn't find the back of the net with Petrovski's strike enough to keep the Central Coast well clear at the top of the table.
Central Coast Mariners 1
Petrovski '80
Perth Glory 0