IS the race for the Premier’s Plate over following our loss to Sydney FC last weekend?
IS the race for the Premier-s Plate over following our loss to Sydney FC last weekend?
Not on your life!
While ever there is a mathematical chance of winning something you can bet your last dollar we will be fighting tooth and nail to win it.
We want it and I know our fans want it!
Last weekend-s performance against Sydney FC at Allianz Stadium was a disappointing one from our point of view and while there are reasons for it – among them our heavy schedule of A-League and ACL coupled with ridiculous amounts of rain on the coast which affected our training program in the lead-up to the match – no one is hiding behind excuses.
The past two weeks have not been flash for us from a results point of view – back-to-back losses for the first time in the past three seasons have seen Western Sydney Wanderers assume poll position in the race for the Premier-s Plate with a five-point buffer from us with three games to play.
Let-s not lose sight of the fact that our performance against Western Sydney a fortnight ago was fantastic but unfortunately the result didn-t match.
Last weekend though there-s no hiding from the fact that Sydney deserved the win on the night.
We played some fantastic football and carved out some excellent chances in front of goal but Sydney had that bit of extra spark and bite about their performance.
The goal now is to get back to winning ways and build momentum heading into a finals series which hands you two games to win the Grand Final.
If that includes us picking up the Premier-s Plate en route then fantastic.
Western Sydney travel to Melbourne tomorrow to take on Heart 24 hours before we face Brisbane at home.
If they were to lose and we can get back on track with three points at home over the Roar, it-s back to a two-point ball game with us heading to Adelaide and the Wanderers facing a resurgent Sydney FC in the local derby next weekend with all the pressure on them.
You can-t help but think there are a couple of twists and turns yet to come during the regular season.
You can only control what-s in your hands and winning our three remaining games to build momentum leading into the finals is definitely something we are aiming for now.
With the midweek trip to Japan to take on J-League outfit Kashiwa Reysol now behind us we arrived back in the country this morning (Fri) to get prepared for Brisbane on Sunday.
We have built up a great rivalry with the boys from up north over the past few seasons and they are desperately clinging on to the hope they can salvage their season with a late run for the Top Six.
We need to be ready for the “fight” this week – something Sydney FC shaded us in last weekend.
All footballing performances are built on a platform of winning the battle first and that is something we have made a point of this week to the players.
We need a sea of yellow and navy at Fortress Bluetongue on Sunday to cheer us home! Kick-off is at 5pm.
Central Coast Mariners vs. Brisbane Roar – Hyundai A-League Round 25
Sunday 17 March, 2013
Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
Kick-off: 5:00pm
Tickets: Please CLICK HERE to purchase tickets to the match.
Twitter: Join the match conversation on Twitter! The official match hash-tag is #CCMvROAR
