Mariners coach says staff were trying to calm players down during fiery scuffle

After a week of bad headlines when serious financial issues were exposed, the A-League has been caught in more drama.

Players tussle in Gosford. (Photo by Scott Gardiner/Getty Images)

Mariners coach Mark Jackson was adamant coaching staff were just trying to “get the players off and calm things down” during a wild bench-clearing brawl with Melbourne City late in their match in Gosford on Sunday night.

In the seventh minute of stoppage time, a fiery confrontation between City’s Terry Antonis and Central Coast’s Jacob Farrell sparked a huge melee which involved almost every player from each team.

In the wash-up, Central Coast’s Storm Roux, who was already substituted from the match, was sent off for his involvement from the bench, while his captain Danny Vukovic was also shown yellow. Antonis and his teammate Tolgay Arslan were given yellow cards as well.

“Most people were trying to get them (apart) there,” Jackson said after his team’s 2-1 win.

“Emotions boil over sometimes, both teams are fully committed. I don’t know what happened, and I’ll look back on it and find out I’m sure, but certainly from our point of view, and I’m sure it’s from their point of view, with regards to staff, we were just trying to get the players off and calm things down.”

JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT THE TEMPERATURES WERE COOLING DOWN!
An encounter between Antonis & Farrell has sparked scenes of chaos at Gosford, with red & yellow cards flying from the Referee's pocket!@CCMariners lead 2-1 in Gosford over @MelbourneCity on 10 Bold! #CCMvMCYpic.twitter.com/04y71BuTBn

— 10 Football (@10FootballAU) January 21, 2024

As for what Roux did to warrant a straight red, Jackson said: “At this moment in time, I don’t know. I’ll look back on it and assess it from there. But, listen, emotions run high. Our boys are all in it together. They back each other.”

After losing their first four A-League matches this season, the Mariners have turned things around and are now fourth on the ladder riding a nine-match unbeaten streak which includes six wins.

But following their next match against Brisbane on Saturday, they are set for an incredibly busy period which will see them play five matches in just 16 days, including an AFC Cup zonal semi-final.

However, Jackson wasn’t worried about what impact that heavy workload would have on his side.

“Of course we look at that and we plan ahead,” he said.

“I’ve got a great team behind me and a great team of physical staff and how we plan and people who organise things.

“We have everything planned to the best of our ability. We’ve experienced that already this year when we’ve had to travel to the Philippines and things like that.

“We’ve had to contend with delayed flights and overnight flights and coming back and doing that.

“We’re well accustomed to it, I’m getting more accustomed to it now, which is good, but we’ll be ready, we take everything as an opportunity.”

Originally published as Mariners coach says staff were trying to calm players down during fiery scuffle