Fired-up Central Coast Mariners ready to fight for more valuable points

THE Central Coast Mariners are coming out fighting. Bottom of the ladder, bottom of the A-League rich list – just watch out if you’re in their way.

THE Central Coast Mariners are coming out fighting. Bottom of the ladder, bottom of the A-League rich list – just watch out if you’re in their way.

That’s the message from striker Josh Bingham, who believes the Mariners have taken enough punches this season and are ready to give a little back.

The Mariners put the boot into a club-record losing streak with a brutal win over Wellington – which saw Roy O’Donovan get an eight-game ban for headbutting – and followed it up with a battling 3-3 draw against Melbourne Victory in Geelong.

Bingham bagged his second goal of the season as the Gosford underdogs stunned the reigning champions to race to a 3-0 lead, but couldn’t keep Victory at bay for the full 90.

And now they’ve shown what they can do, the Mariners are ready to maintain the rage.

“It showed that we can go to places like Melbourne and cause an upset in front of 15,000 Victory fans,” Bingham told The Daily Telegraph. “Three-nil up at half-time, no one was expecting that but it and gives us the belief to go on to get some results.”

It’s been a rough season for the Mariners, as the Gosford club has suffered a series of blows from very public disharmony and departures, as well as the ever-present financial concerns, but Bingham says the headlines are only making the playing group more determined to come out swinging.

“A lot of the media coverage of our team, and club, this year has been very negative so every chance we go out there we’ve got 90 minutes a week to prove the doubters wrong and we’re going to fight for every minute.

Josh Bingham believes the Mariners can fight their way up the ladder.

“We want the three points but we also want to put in a performance that will make the fans proud. They’ve had every right to be a bit upset but over the past few weeks we’ve shown what we’re capable of.”

The Mariners travel to Adelaide on Saturday to face a United side on the rise but Bingham says recent results have given the players heart they can hit the Reds where it hurts.

“They’re a team that loves to keep the ball and play good football. We’ll look to shut down their midfield and get the ball wide quickly, to use our pace, and after our experience last week we’ll be better for it.

“Yes we’re at the foot of the ladder but we’ve got that fighting spirit so there’s never going to be an easy game against us.”

Originally published as Fired-up Central Coast Mariners ready to fight for more valuable points