Central Coast Mariners striker Matt Simon says there is strong belief amongst the squad members, that they can return from Saturday’s tough road trip to Brisbane with all three points, and continue their unbeaten start to Hyundai A-League 2009/10.
Central Coast Mariners striker Matt Simon says there is strong belief amongst the squad members, that they can return from Saturday-s tough road trip to Brisbane with all three points, and continue their unbeaten start to Hyundai A-League 2009/10.
After a win against Melbourne, and home draws against local rivals Newcastle and Sydney, the Mariners head to the sunshine state full of confidence they can stretch their unbeaten run to four matches.
“We love going to Brisbane, Suncorp Stadium is an amazing Stadium, so we-re looking forward to getting up there, and hopefully we can stay undefeated when we get up there, and we can grab three points,” Simon said.
The Mariners have tasted success just four times in 19 meetings with the Roar, although three of those victories came on unfamiliar territory, on Brisbane-s home soil.
“They-ll be buzzing for us up there, and it is always a tough game.
“I think they are our bogey team especially here at Bluetongue. We-ve had a couple of good results in the past up there at Suncorp, so hopefully we can go up there with a good game plan, stick it out and bring the three points home,” said Simon.
The 23-year-old marksman netted eleven times for the Yellow and Navy last campaign – three of those against the Roar – and has already found the back of the net this time around.
With Qantas Socceroos coach Pim Verbeek planning for an Asian Cup campaign as well as next year-s World Cup finals, Simon could be excused for having his eye on higher honours, but the East Gosford junior insists his priorities lie much closer to home.
“Definitely happy with last year, and if I can achieve half of what I did last year I-d be pretty happy, but I-m just concentrating on the Mariners this year, not thinking about too much other stuff.
“Hopefully we can have a good year as a team, make the finals, and hopefully win a Grand Final,” said Simon.
The Central Coast heads into Saturday-s clash sitting in third spot on the Hyundai A-League ladder, picking up five points along the way, and even more impressively, conceding just one goal in their opening three matches.
“(Beating) Melbourne was an amazing result down there as everyone knows and we-ve just got to keep our consistency up.
“We were pretty unlucky, I thought we could have won the game against Newcastle in the first half had we taken our chances, then on the weekend against Sydney, we had two great chances at the end to win it, but at the end a draw was probably a fair result.
“We-re still unbeaten, and while it will be a tough ask going to Brisbane, hopefully we can get over the top of them,” Simon said.
The Mariners- next home match of the Hyundai A-League 2009/10 season is Friday, 4 September. Kick-off is at 8pm at Canberra Stadium. Tickets are available online here or by phoning 132 849.
Mariners Memberships for the Hyundai A-League 2009/10 season are now available by clicking here or by phoning 1300 767 442.
