Mariners’ magic run continues
The Central Coast Mariners have claimed an all-important three-points in their bid to avoid relegation after their come from behind 4-2 defeat of St George FC at Pluim Park.
The hosts went 2-0 down early on, however thanks to an impressive double from skipper Michael Paragalli, the Mariners completed their comeback in style.
St George FC had the perfect start to life scoring twice inside the game’s opening ten-minutes.
Saints skipper Troy Danaskos opened the hosts defence in only the 3rd minute when with his first touch calmly slotted the ball from distance after a brilliantly built-up passage of play.
Jesper Webber then doubled his sides advantage in the 10th minute when he found himself in the right place at the right time as he rifled home the deflected ball into the back of the net for his first goal for the club.
Mariners star midfielder Jai Rose took it upon himself to catapult the Mariners back into the affair, as he was fouled multiple times after finding himself deep into enemy territory.
In the 16th minute Webber brought Rose down with his foot while a minute later Jaden Casella pushed him to the ground.
Rose’s braveness and tenacity were rewarded in the 25th minute when Muginga Mpota connected beautifully onto Laurence Taylor’s curled ball to header home over opposition goalkeeper Mackenzie Syron and it was game on once more.
Michael Paragalli then proceeded to level the score six-minutes later when he fired in a rebounded effort after Shumba Mutokoyi’s initial attempt was dropped by Syron.
St George FC were determined to recoup any sort of advantage and nearly reclaimed it on the stroke of halftime when Bai Antoniou witnessed his curling attempt palmed away by a back peddling Joel Wade.
Again, the visitors came agonisingly close in the 48th minute when Danaskos’ ball into the box was headed inches over the bar by Casella.
The Mariners responded in the 58th minute when Rose’s shot was thwarted by Syron and then impressively stopped the follow up attempt from Jordan Small to keep the hosts at bay.
It wasn’t before long that the Mariners converted their dominance into a lead in the 69th minute when Syron dropped the ball and Paragalli pounced from close range.
To the Central Coast’s credit they did the hard work on both ends of the field. This was evident in the 77th minute when Wade made himself huge to block Antoniou’s testing shot as he was through on goals.
Noah Peacock confirmed all three-points for the hosts in the 85th minute when he scored an easily curated tap-in thanks to Taylor’s pass inside the area.
Mariners captain Michael Paragalli was elated with his side’s determination as the three points put them two shy from 13th placed Sutherland Sharks and 14th placed Western Sydney Wanderers in a bid to escape the relegation zone.
“Today it was so important to get the win. We didn’t have the best start to the season, but we’ve been working all year to get results like these, we deserved it.
“Today came from all the work we have been doing to become a great unit and in turn a great team.
“We have become close with each other, and it’s reflected out on the pitch.
“We knew the result could be ours and we still had belief even at 2-0 down. We knew we had it in us to come back.”
Match Stats
Central Coast Mariners 4 (Muginga Mpota 25’, Michael Paragalli 31’, 69’, Noah Peacock 85’)
St George FC 2 (Troy Danaskos 3’, Jesper Webber 10’)
Sunday 20 July 2025
Pluim Park
Referee: Ivica Covic
Assistant Referees: Nicholas Farmer and Arinath Gobinath
Fourth Official: Oliver Leanfore
Central Coast Mariners: 3.Michael Paragalli, (6.Jordan Small 54’), 10.Ayouk Mow, 11.Jai Rose, 13.Logan Sambrook, 21.Muginga Mpota, 22.Shumba Mutokoyi, 23.Laurence Taylor, 24.Kye Schumacher, (26.Flynn Richards 66’), 35.Max Miller, 38.Harrison Jablonski, (39.Harper Ryles 66’), 40.Joel Wade
Unused subs: 14.Angus Reid, 19.Noah Peacock, 20.Jared Williams
Yellow cards: None
Red cards: None
St George FC: 2.Rocco Smith, 3.Troy Danaskos, 5.Nicholas Kalogerou, (7.Aedan O’Shea 55’), 8.Evangelo Souris, (9.Chan Yelchan 64’), 10.Jaden Casella, 11.Justin Poon, 15.Bai Antoniou, 16.Kaidyn Wright, 18.Gianni Di Pizio, 28.Jesper Webber, (40.Hassan Kamberovic 79’), 99.Mackenzie Syron
Unused subs: 19.Nikola Skataric, 20.Daniel Axford, 23.Javier Rodriguez
Yellow cards: Jesper Webber 28’
Red cards: None
Player Ratings:
3: Michael Paragalli (CCM)
2: Joel Wade (CCM)
1: Laurence Taylor (CCM)
