Perth 1-0 Central Coast: Ingham inflicts 11th straight defeat for Mariners

As Diego Castro could not start for Perth Glory and it has been the major talking point for the match against Central Coast Mariners, Perth Glory register a 1-0 win on their Hyundai A-League return in Gosford.

As Perth Glory returned from the lockdown after four straight winless games, Ingham got his first start for the Glory. Manager Tony Popovic started with his teenage sons Kristian and Gabriel together for the first time.

Dane Ingham scored his first goal for Perth Glory and second in A-League., to break the deadlock with a stunning effort on 32 minutes after new captain Neil Kilkenny found the Kiwi wing-back with a razor-sharp, no-look pass.

In the absence of Castro, Bruno Fornaroli doubled as Perth’s main goal threat and their chief creator as Glory built a strong platform, although the Mariners tried hard to level during last 20 minutes but they failed to equalise.

Liam Reddy became the first goalkeeper to join the Hyundai A-League’s 300 club with a clean sheet today, as he joined an exclusive club along with Andrew Durante, Leigh Broxham and Nikolai Topor-Stanley.  

With today’s match, Mariners equalled New Zealand Knights record in 2005, to experience 11th defeat in a row. To further worsen the situation, Striker Jordan Murray suffered a dislocated shoulder.

“There were a lot of young players out there that did a fantastic job and they were supported very well from our senior players,” Popovic said.

“I’ve seen them work for the last month and I’ve seen the comradery they have on and off the field and this is just what they deserved today.

“It’s a start – obviously we have many games to go – but we’ll go home happy tonight and the adjustments that were made show just how versatile and good the players are.”