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Central Coast win A-League Championship, end 10-year drought

The Central Coast have pulled off one of the most outrageous A-League Grand Final wins in history to end a 10-year nightmare.

What a fairytale. Photo by Matt King/Getty Images
What a fairytale. Photo by Matt King/Getty Images

A hat-trick from Socceroos striker Jason Cummings has propelled the Central Coast Mariners to a fairytale 6-1 grand final demolition of a star-studded Melbourne City.

Undoubtedly the underdogs going into Saturday night’s A-League decider at CommBank Stadium, the Mariners stunned City, who have now lost three of the past four grand finals.

City’s regular season dominance counted for nothing when it mattered most, with the Melbourne heavyweights never recovering after going 2-0 down after 34 minutes following goals from Cummings and the dynamic Sam Silvera.

Although cutting the Mariners’ lead in half with a goal from substitute Richard van der Venne, City failed to match the passion of the Central Coast, who scored four times in the second half ­– two Cummings penalties, a header from Frenchman Beni N’Kololo and a stoppage-time strike from substitute Moresche – to seal the Mariners’ first championship since 2013.

It also completed a remarkable turnaround for the Mariners, who were wooden spooners three seasons in a row from 2018 to 2020

But under former Mariners player Nick Montgomery, Central Coast have become the new entertainers of the competition, proving it with a stunning grand final win in front of more than 26,000 fans.

Jason Cummings had a night out. Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images
Jason Cummings had a night out. Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images

City didn’t deserve for their season to finish in such an embarrassing way, but questions will again be asked of their failure to rise to the grandest occasion of them all.

The commentators were blown away about the capitulation from City, saying the side was “utterly humiliated”.

There was to be no fairytale finish for retiring City captain Scott Jamieson, who watched the entire match from the bench.

Cummings confirmed post-match that he had played his last game for the Mariners, and he couldn’t have finished his Central Coast career in a better way.

After an uneventful start, the grand final came to life in the 20th minute when Cummings gave the Mariners the lead,

The move started deep in Central Coast’s half and gathered momentum when Frenchman N’Kololo charged down the right sideline before delivering a cross into the path of Cummings.

The Scotland-born marksman, who represented Australia at last year’s World Cup, met the cross with a first-time volley but it was blocked by City defender Curtis Good

However, the Mariners’ ace was first to react to the loose ball and stabbed it home past City goalkeeper Tom Glover.

The goal sent the Central Coast fans into a frenzy and they seemed set to further erupt three minutes later when Brazilian attacker Marco Tulio had a double chance to increase the Mariners’ lead.

Glover stood tall to deny him the first time, before Good was on hand to clear a goal-bound shot off the line after Tulio was presented with a second opportunity from the loose ball off the City keeper’s initial save.

That hurts for Melbourne City. Photo by Matt King/Getty Images
That hurts for Melbourne City. Photo by Matt King/Getty Images

But the Mariners didn’t have to wait much longer to score a deserved second goal, with the in-form Silvera finding the back of the net in the 34th minute.

Fed by Cummings, the electrifying Silvera stood up City’s Portuguese defender Nuno Reis before cutting into City’s penalty area and slotting the ball into the bottom corner of the net.

A shell-shocked City then did what good teams do – respond with a goal of their own.

It came in the 40th minute from Dutchman van der Venne, who had come on for the injured Valon Berisha (back).

The move involved Marco Tilio, Good and Jamie Maclaren, who rather than shooting, laid the ball into the path of van der Venne, who did well to steer his first-time finish into the roof of the net.

However, the Mariners a golden chance to again open up a two-goal lead in first-half stoppage-time, but Glover came to City’s rescue with a fine save to deny N’Kololo.

But the Mariners upped the ante in the second half and City had no answers.

Read related topics:Melbourne

Original URL: https://www.news.com.au/sport/football/central-coast-win-aleague-championship-end-10year-drought/news-story/520ff384db7289bb75aaa65ec97e635d