THERE is no middle ground in professional sport – its high or it’s low!
THERE is no middle ground in professional sport – its high or it-s low!
Last Saturday night was clearly one of those moments that hurt – an A-League season that ended with the lottery of a penalty shootout – this time a week earlier than last season.
Sure there were heads down in the sheds at fulltime knowing we had dominated a game and created enough chances to win comfortably before having it snatched away from us by Perth Glory and another highly controversial off-side goal.
Do I blame Perth-s goal for ending our domestic season a week earlier than planned? No, I don-t and neither does anyone else at the Mariners.
At the end of the day, goals win games and we should have scored more than one. No one in particular was to blame – it just wasn-t to be on the night.
The bus trip to Sydney Airport straight after the game, where we stayed overnight before jetting out for South Korea early the next morning, was the only time really we had to reflect on what had just gone before us.
Sunrise on Sunday meant our focus had to shift to Seongnam for Wednesday night-s ACL clash – with a turnaround of just four days we had no choice thankfully!
What the Seongnam game represented was an indicator that whilst the Perth result hurt, we still had plenty to show for our performances over the past two seasons. The midweek trip to South Korea shows how successful last season was – by qualifying for the Grand Final we booked our place in Asia.
The Premier’s Plate reminded us of how successful we have been this season – a feat that has guaranteed the Mariners brand will again fly high in Asia next season.
Despite not making the Grand Final the players have proven to be the best team in the A-League this season over 27 rounds and no one can take that away from the boys. They deserve it big time!
