2013 A-League Grand Final

2013 A-League Grand Final

Event	2012–13 A-League
Western Sydney Wanderers Central Coast Mariners 0 2
Date	21 April 2013
Venue	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney
Man of the Match	Daniel McBreen
Referee	Peter Green
Attendance	42,102

The 2013 A-League Grand Final was the eighth A-League Grand Final, which took place at the Sydney Football Stadium on 21 April 2013. The match was won by Central Coast Mariners, who beat Western Sydney Wanderers 2–0, in front of 42,102 people. This was the first time the Central Coast Mariners became champions of Australia, after losing three previous grand finals.

Route to the final

See also: 2012–13 A-League

Both teams came into the final in good form, the Wanderers undefeated in 13 games and the Mariners having won their past 4 A-League games in a row. The sides had previously met three times over the course of the season, with each team winning one match as well as one draw.

In their inaugural season, Wanderers performed strongly. Mixed early results were followed by a streak of 12 undefeated games, including a run of 10 wins in a row, which saw the side top the regular season table, winning the A-League premiership. In the semi-final, the Wanderers beat Brisbane Roar 2–0, scoring a goal in each half to qualify for the grand final.

Entering the season as reigning A-League premiers, the Mariners had a strong season, highlighted by the fact that they lost only one match at their home ground, Bluetongue Stadium- against the Wanderers. After finishing second in the regular season, the Mariners played Melbourne Victory in the semi-final, winning 1-0 through a Daniel McBreen goal and so qualifying for the final.

The top six teams from the 2012–13 season qualified for the finals series, with the top two receiving byes into the semi-finals.

	Elimination Finals				Semi-finals				Grand Final
					Western Sydney Wanderers	2
	Adelaide United	1			Brisbane Roar	0
	Brisbane Roar	2							Western Sydney Wanderers	0
									Central Coast Mariners	2
					Central Coast Mariners	1
	Melbourne Victory (a.e.t.)	2			Melbourne Victory	0
	Perth Glory	1

Match

Summary

It was announced by the FFA, following Western Sydney Wanderers earning the right to host the grand final, that the match would be played at the Sydney Football Stadium due to its greater capacity than the Wanderers usual home ground, Parramatta Stadium. The match was played in front of a sold-out crowd of 42,102 at the Sydney Football Stadium- the largest crowd of the 2012–13 A-League. In Australia, it was shown live on Fox Sports.

The first clear-cut chance of the match came when Trent Sainsbury played a ball over the top for Mile Sterjovski. Sterjovski got in behind the defence and chipped over Wanderers' 'keeper Ante Covic, only for his shot to hit the crossbar and bounce out for a goal kick. Shortly before half-time, the Mariners took the lead. Michael McGlinchey's corner found Patrick Zwaanswijk at the near post, whose powerful header put the Mariners ahead going into half-time.

Soon after play resumed, both Shinji Ono and Sterjovski had attempts on goal from attacking positions for their respective sides, but neither was able to put their shot on target. Midway through the half, the Mariners were awarded a penalty. It came after Daniel McBreen retrieved a ball deep inside the penalty area and cut back the bouncing ball, only for it to hit the arm of Jérome Polenz, leading Peter Green to award a penalty. From the resultant penalty, McBreen sent Covic the wrong way, powering his shot into the top left corner and giving the Mariners a two-goal advantage which they retained until the final whistle.

Daniel McBreen was awarded the Joe Marston Medal as man of the match. The win marked the Central Coast Mariners' first A-League Championship.

Details

21 April 2013 (2013-04-21)

16:00 AEST

Western Sydney Wanderers	0–2	Central Coast Mariners
	Reports	Zwaanswijk 44' McBreen 68' (pen.)

Sydney Football Stadium

Attendance: 42,102

Referee: Peter Green (Australia)

Western Sydney Wanderers

Central Coast Mariners

GK 1 Ante Covic RB 6 Jérome Polenz  76' CB 4 Nikolai Topor-Stanley CB 5 Michael Beauchamp (c) LB 2 Shannon Cole DM 8 Mateo Poljak CM 10 Aaron Mooy CM 21 Shinji Ono RW 14 Kwabena Appiah-Kubi  72' LW 19 Mark Bridge FW 9 Dino Kresinger  67' Substitutes: GK 30 Carlos Saliadarre DF 11 Tarek Elrich  72' MF 16 Rocky Visconte  76' MF 23 Jason Trifiro FW 7 Labinot Haliti  67' Manager: Tony Popovic

GK 1 Mathew Ryan RB 4 Pedj Bojic CB 16 Trent Sainsbury CB 6 Patrick Zwaanswijk LB 3 Joshua Rose DM 7 John Hutchinson (c) DM 11 Oliver Bozanic RW 9 Bernie Ibini-Isei AM 2 Daniel McBreen  70' LW 14 Michael McGlinchey  51'  88' FW 21 Mile Sterjovski  73' Substitutes: GK 20 Justin Pasfield DF 5 Zachary Anderson MF 17 Anthony Caceres MF 29 Nicholas Fitzgerald  88' FW 19 Mitchell Duke  73' Manager: Graham Arnold

Joe Marston Medal: Daniel McBreen (Central Coast Mariners) Assistant referees: Nathan MacDonald David Walsh Fourth official: Strebre Delovski

Match rules 90 minutes 30 minutes of extra-time if necessary. Penalty shoot-out if scores still level. Maximum of five named substitutes. Maximum of three substitutions.

A-League 2013 Champions
Central Coast Mariners First Title

Statistics

	Western Sydney Wanderers	Central Coast Mariners
Goals Scored	0	2
Total Shots	4	14
Shots on Target	1	5
Ball Possession	55%	45%
Corner Kicks	5	6
Fouls Committed	6	12
Offsides	2	0
Yellow Cards	0	2
Second Caution Red Cards	0	0
Direct Red Cards	0	0

See also

• 2012–13 A-League
• List of A-League champions

External links

• Official A-League Website