Central Coast Mariners and Perth Glory will look to expel the demons of last season with an opening day win in Gosford on Saturday.
Both sides missed the finals in 2014-15 for contrasting reasons; Perth Glory were excluded following their salary cap breaches while the Mariners struggled for points all season and lost coach Phil Moss in the process.
The Glory’s salary cap woes triggered a player exodus, and while Kenny Lowe has done his best to reinvigorate the squad it’s not clear whether the quality of players lost has been fully compensated for. New imports Gyorgy Sandor, Deigo Castro and Guyon Fernandez will look to replace the losses of Rostyn Griffiths, Mitch Nichols and Andy Keogh while Ante Covic and Anthony Golec come in for goalkeeper Danny Vukovic and left back Scott Jamieson.
The Mariners experienced a squad overhaul of their own, releasing several players and bringing in a host of new signings. Strikers Roy O’Donovan and Daniel Heffernan came in to add firepower to a team that scored less than a goal a game last season and promising talents Harry Ascroft and Paul Izzo add depth to the central defense and goalkeeper positions.
Both sides have played plenty of pre-season fixtures, Perth have had the added experience of an impressive FFA Cup run. The Glory have reached the semi finals of this year’s tournament after knocking out A-League sides Newcastle Jets and Western Sydney Wanderers along the way.
Despite this impressive run, often pre-season form fails to show how well a team will do once the league is underway. Will Perth exorcise their demons of last year, or can the Mariners get off to a perfect start in front of their home fans?
Key Battle – Nick Montgomery vs Nebo Marinkovic
These two central midfielders will undoubtedly play a key role in Saturday’s result as experienced campaigners with the potential to control the middle of the park. Montgomery will act as the achor of the Mariners’ formation, sitting in front of the defence and breaking up play, but as he showed against Perth last season, the Englishman also has the quality to make an impact in the final third.
Marinkovic is a different player to Montgomery, using his technical ability to start attacks or shoot from range to affect proceedings. The Serbian midfielder is one of the remaining core players from last season’s squad alongside Michael Thwaite, and will need to step up into a leadership role while the new arrivals acclimatise to the A-League.
Team News
Dan Heffernan is still awaiting international clearance for the Mariners, meaning that Roy O’Donovan starts in the forward line. Paul Izzo’s commitments with the Olyroos will also see Liam Reddy starting unchallenged in goal. Liam Rose is also overseas with the Olyroos, meaning that Nick Fitzgerald starts in central midfield with Montgomery and Anthony Caceres.
O’Donovan, Mitch Austin and Jake McGing will make their A-League debuts against Perth. Austin starts on the left flank next to O’Donovan, while McGing will slot into central defence alongside Jacob Poscoliero.
Perth only have two injury concerns, with Alex Grant and Ruben Zadkovich both set for a month on the sidelines with knee problems. Zadkovich’s unavailability means that new signing Gyorgy Sandor will start in central midfield as part of a 4-4-2 formation. Fellow new arrivals Guyon Fernandez and Diego Castro will start up front and on the left side of midfield.
Head-to-Head
After 31 meetings between these sides the Mariners hold a significant advantage, winning 17 matches and drawing six. Perth Glory have only secured eight wins against Central Coast, two of which occurred last season – a 1-0 result in round five thanks to a goal from Nebo Marinkovic and a 4-1 thrashing at NIB Stadium in round 11.
Previous Meeting
Central Coast Mariners 1 Perth Glory 1 – Central Coast Stadium, March 22, 2015
The Mariners put up a strong performance, but a lack of quality finishing saw them fall behind thanks to Jamie MacLaren’s strike in the 79th minute. It looked as though the Glory would steal the points, but Nick Montgomery was on hand in stoppage time to score a stunning goal from outside the box.
Prediction
Quite often the pre-season form book gets thrown out the window in round one. However, with both sides still trying to manage a huge turnover of players, this match will likely end as a draw highlighted by some disjointed football.
Central Coast Mariners 1 Perth Glory 1
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