A League Round 5 - Central Coast vs Perth (Sun 23 Sep - 5pm)

[Beejayville]

Central Coast Mariners v Perth Glory Date: Sunday September 23 Kick-off (local time): 5.00pm Venue: Bluetongue Central Coast Stadium Web Radio coverage: Coast FM 96.3FM (Central Coast) http://www.2ccc.net/ 6PR 882AM http://www.mytalk.com.au/NewDesign/Pages/mytalksportcentral.aspx SportFM 90.5FM http://www.905.com.au/ (both Perth) Head-to-head Six league meetings: Central Coast - 4 wins, Perth - 1 win, 1 draw Previous meeting Central Coast 2 Perth Glory 3 (Bluetongue Central Coast Stadium, Pre-Season Cup, August 2007) Past five results Central Coast: Loss - Win - Win - Win - Draw Perth: Loss - Draw - Draw - Draw - Loss Frontrunners the Central Coast Mariners can create another milestone in a blistering start to this year's Hyundai A-League season by recording their fifth consecutive clean sheet against misfiring Perth Glory this Sunday. The Mariners will break the club's record time without conceding a goal by keeping Perth at bay for the opening 17 minutes for the sides' fifth round clash at Bluetongue Stadium, but must do so without captain Alex Wilkinson and former national team defender Tony Vidmar. Wilkinson is continuing his recuperation from knee surgery with his return still at least a month away while Vidmar serves a one-match ban following his red card for a professional foul on Melbourne's Archie Thompson in the second-half stoppage time of last week's goalless draw. Paul O'Grady (shoulder) is also a long-term absentee but recent Qantas Australian under-23 call-up Nigel Boogaard has been described his week as a rock at the back with Andrew Clark expected to partner him in central defence after struggling with a groin strain in pre-season. Lawrie McKinna's side will lose its lead at the top of the table if New South Wales rival Newcastle beats the Victory in Friday night's round five opener but of more concern to the Mariners coach will be the injuries to former Glory striker Nik Mrdja and Sasho Petrovski. The Central Coast medical team are playing it safe with Mrdja after the recent national team call-up missed the best part of the past two seasons after bone bruising and cartilage damage. Petrovski, meanwhile, is named in the Mariners squad despite limping off after 25 minutes of the scoreless draw with Melbourne with an ankle injury. Former Perth player Tom Pondeljak could deputise for Mrdja alongside Petrovski upfront while Greg Owens also earns a recall after a hamstring strain. McKinna's counterpart at the Glory, Ron Smith, would probably do anything for a strike force of such standing after watching his side find the back of the net just once in 360 minutes. That goal came courtesy of makeshift attacker Jamie Harnwell's bustling presence upfront against the Queensland Roar in last week's 2-1 defeat with Perth's former skipper likely to keep his place to try his luck against Clark and Boogaard. Smith's choice might be to rest Croatian Mate Dragicevic, who has not scored since early August, and start either fit-again James Robinson or speedy youngster Nikita Rukavytsya alongside Harnwell. With Stan Lazaridis, David Tarka and Hayden Foxe still sidelined, Smith might elect to keep full-back Jamie Coyne in central defence with Tyler Simpson again filling in at right-back. One match-up to keep an eye on is the battle between Qantas Socceroos candidates Dean Heffernan and Nikolai Topor-Stanley at left-back while McKinna could detail Mile Jedinak to follow the threatening forward runs of the improving Billy Celeski, if selected, in midfield.

[Beejayville]

Re: A League Round 5 - Central Coast vs Perth (Sun 23 Sep - 5pm) Central Coast Mariners Squad: 1.Matthew TROTT (gk), 2.Matt SIMON, 5.Bradley PORTER, 6.Andre GUMPRECHT, 7.John HUTCHINSON, 8.Dean HEFFERNAN, 10.Tom PONDELJAK, 11.Damien BROWN, 12.Greg OWENS, 15.Andrew CLARK, 16.Nigel BOOGAARD, 17.Matthew OSMAN, 19.Adam KWASNIK, 20.Danny VUKOVIC (gk), 22.Sasho PETROVSKI, 23.Mile JEDINAK. *one to be omitted In: Matthew Trott (Returns from Injury), Matt Simon (Promoted), Greg Owens (Returns from Injury) Out: Tony Vidmar (Suspended), Andrew Redmayne (Omitted) Others Unavailable: Nik MRDJA (Knee – Indefinite), Tony VIDMAR (Suspended – 1 week), Alex WILKINSON (Knee – Indefinite) Central Coast lose Vidmar which is a big loss to their defence, and they also have striker Mjdra out with a knee problem. Greg Owens comes back into the side and the Mariners might find it a bit harder to penetrate the Perth defence this week. Perth Glory Squad: 50.Tommi TOMICH (gk), 2.Nikolai TOPOR-STANLEY, 4.Simon COLOSIMO, 5.Jamie HARNWELL, 6.Dino DJULBIC, 7.Anthony DANZE, 8.David MICEVSKI, 9.Mate DRAGICEVIC, 12.Leo BERTOS, 13.Nikita RUKAVYTSYA, 14.Jamie COYNE, 15.Mitchell PRENTICE, 16.Nick RIZZO, 17.Jimmy DOWNEY, 19.Naum SEKULOVSKI, 21.James ROBINSON, 25. Tyler SIMPSON, 30.Tando VELAPHI *three to be omitted In: David Micevski (promoted), Leo Bertos (return from injury), Mitchell Prentice (promoted), Nick Rizzo (promoted) Out: Billy Celeski (omitted) Others Unavailable: David TARKA (hamstring – season), Jason PETKOVIC (leg – 6 weeks), Stan LAZARIDIS, Hayden FOXE (knee – 6 weeks) Perth strengthened by the return of Michevski and Bertos. Impending stats, facts and trivia Yet to concede a goal so far this season, the Central Coast Mariners will be aiming to equal the Australian national league record for most number of matches at the start of the season without conceding a goal: five. In 28 seasons of the old NSL, the longest start to the season without conceding was five matches, set by Preston in the 1986 season.

[geor 1971]

Re: A League Round 5 - Central Coast vs Perth (Sun 23 Sep - 5pm) Cc Mariners:4 Games 5-0 Goals Perth Glory:4 Games 1-2 Goals.i Think Under 2,5 Is Good Bet.

[geor 1971]

Re: A League Round 5 - Central Coast vs Perth (Sun 23 Sep - 5pm) Cc Mariners-perth Glory=1-0 Under 2,5:ok