Matthew Comito 1612236607,1612418370
From Victoria, through the Northern Territory to Gosford: the story of Stefan Nigro s journey to an A-League comeback with Central Coast Mariners is a tale of both professional and personal development, aided by the mentorship of Australia s iconic coach whisperer .
Nigro, 24, made 35 A-League appearances across stints at Brisbane Roar and Melbourne Victory before joining NPL Victoria outfit Green Gully in 2020.
But, in the midst of the pandemic, the NPL season was abandoned, leaving Nigro at a crossroads.
With an ambition to make an A-League return and no conventional route presenting itself to do so in uncertain times the young defender forged his own path, embarking what would prove to be a testing and rewarding journey across three states as he pursued a contract with the Mariners.
Samuel Green 1612241877,1612241948
Matt Simon believes the Central Coast Mariners will continue to thrive against the ‘big teams’ as the veteran forward prepares to pull on the Yellow and Navy jersey for the 200th time in the A-League against Melbourne City.
Simon lifted the Premiers Plate in his second season as a senior in Gosford, in 2007/08, and the 35-year-old has racked up 199 competition games during three spells, either side of moves to K-League club Jeonnam Dragons and Sydney FC, ahead of his milestone game at Central Coast Stadium on Wednesday.
Alen Stajcic s side have shocked the A-League this season, going from wooden spoon holders in 2019/20 to competition frontrunners after winning three of their opening five games, including away wins over newcomers Macarthur FC and the defending Premiers and Champions, Sydney FC.
Football: Wellington Phoenix claim first win of A-League season as late goal topples Central Coast Mariners
31 Jan, 2021 07:05 AM
3 minutes to read
Wellington Phoenix 2
Central Coast Mariners 1
The Wellington Phoenix have produced a smash-and-grab to notch their first win of the new A-League season, beating the league-leading Central Coast Mariners 2-1 in Gosford.
Substitute Jaushua Sotirio was the man of the hour, latching onto a long pass from Alex Rufer in the dying moments and finishing with aplomb to secure his side three points that for large parts of the second half looked highly unlikely.
In a classic of the game-of-two-halves genre, the Phoenix were the better team for the majority of the first half, while their hosts completely dominated the second. Coach Ufuk Talay made two changes to the Wellington side that started last weekend s loss to Newcastle with Alex Rufer returning from suspension and Clayton Lewis also restored to the starting eleven.
Matthew Comito 1611919499,1612995915
Central Coast Mariners head into Matchweek 6 intent on building on a stellar start to the 2020/21 A-League campaign with another positive result against Wellington Phoenix at Central Coast Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
It s first against last in Gosford but the Phoenix have been far better than their position on the table suggests, suffering two one-goal defeats from three games to begin the 2020/21 season.
Wellington s most recent outing came against Newcastle Jets in Matchweek 5, a 2-1 defeat which continued to frustrate Ufuk Talay s side.
As the Phoenix chase a first win of the campaign the Mariners head into Matchweek 6 leading the pack with three wins from four games, including an impressive 2-0 victory over Champions Sydney FC last time out.
Mark Birighitti – Central Coast Mariners
Birighitti has proved to be one of the most reliable shot-stoppers in the competition so far and the 29-year-old did not put a foot wrong while shutting out the Premiers to keep his third clean sheet in four games.
While he was only forced to make four saves – the highlight being a late block from substitute Jordi Swibel – Birighitti dominated his penalty area, fending off cross after cross and racing of his line to smother a number of through balls.
Birighitti - Mariners shot-stopper adamant on a clean sheet
Defenders
Ruon Tongyik – Central Coast Mariners