Classy Central Coast Mariners left-back Joshua Rose admits the pain of the heartbreaking last-ditch loss to Melbourne Victory on New Year’s Eve will make he and his teammates even more desperate to get back to winning ways as their five-match stretch at Bluetongue Stadium continues this Sunday against Wellington Phoenix.
Classy Central Coast Mariners left-back Joshua Rose admits the pain of the heartbreaking last-ditch loss to Melbourne Victory on New Year-s Eve will make he and his teammates even more desperate to get back to winning ways as their five-match stretch at Bluetongue Stadium continues this Sunday against Wellington Phoenix.
The ten-man Mariners couldn-t quite hang on to a 1-nil lead over last season-s Grand Finalists after Adam Kwasnik-s sending off, and Rose says the loss has made winning against Wellington all the more vital.
“It-s very important,” said Rose.
“We talked about it at the start of this run to get as many points as we can out of this home run, so we have to get the three points and then look towards Brisbane Roar as well.
“It was very disappointing to lose that game. We played very good football and proved we can match it with Melbourne Victory and a lot of other teams in the competition, so to lose in the end was disappointing but that-s football sometimes,” said Rose.
The former Brisbane Strikers and New Zealand Knights defender would have fond memories of Wellington Phoenix, having scored a brace in a 3-nil win the last time the two sides met, and while he admits he-d love to be on the scoresheet again, it-s the final result which will prove telling.
“It would be nice (to score again), but it-s important first of all that we get the three points.
“We-re in a good position at the moment, the loss at the weekend slowed us down a bit but we need to get back on track with another win,” Rose said.
Wellington have a tricky midweek fixture against Melbourne Victory tonight, a match which could potentially put the Victory just a point behind the Yellow and Navy, and increase the competition for second spot at season-s end.
“It-s a real battle for that second spot.
“Melbourne Victory has put themselves in a good position now so we-re going to be looking over our shoulder for them as well but the most important thing is to concentrate on getting our own points, keep winning games and when it comes to the last two or three games if we-re in a great position it-s good for us,” Rose said.
Wellington would have top six aspirations of their own and Sunday-s match could prove pivotal in their quest, something which, according to Rose, means the Mariners will need to be on red-alert for the visit of Ricki Herbert-s side.
“Phoenix have a great squad so we-re not going to take them lightly at all. I-m sure Arnie will give us a good game plan of how to break them down and where we can beat them so we just have to go out on the field and execute that, and I-m sure we-ll get the three points,” Rose said.
And the left-back was full of praise for the season-s highest attendance of 12,409 on New Year-s Eve. While the Mariners narrowly missed out on three points, Rose hopes another huge crowd returns on Sunday, to play the role of the “12th man.”
“It was a great crowd and made losing even more disappointing, but if we can get them back for the rest of the season, yeah, the crowd was great,” said Rose.
The Central Coast Mariners next match of the Hyundai A-League 2010/11 season will be against Wellington Phoenix next Sunday, 9 January at Bluetongue Stadium. Kick-off is at 5:00pm AEDT and tickets are available by CLICKING HERE or by phoning 132 849.
