Central Coast Mariners 2-1 Wellington Phoenix
by Alyce Collett (25/3/26)
Above: Central Coast Mariners players celebrate after scoring one of their two goals they scored tonight against the Wellington Phoenix. Photo: via the A-Leagues.
The Central Coast Mariners have picked up an important three points in the race for finals qualification after a shock 2-1 win over the Wellington Phoenix.
The goals took a while to come, but eventually the Mariners found the back of the net thanks to Eliza Familton and Isabel Gomez. Macey Fraser also found the back of the net for the visitors halfway through second half stoppage time, but it was ultimately a case of too little too late.
The win sees the Mariners jump up to fifth on the ladder, while Wellington’s hopes for the minor premierships got a little bit harder.
The first half did not contain any goals, but it did contain some very strong defensive work from both sides.
The action was very free flowing, but neither side could convert or really looked like scoring.
The keepers certainly had plenty to do but they did not have to break a sweat while doing so, whether that be because of the power of the shot or the angle of the shot.
Both sides were trying to use the full width of the field, but well placed defences led by the likes of Taren King up one end and Mackenzie Barry up the other end ensured that the attackers had to find increasingly more intricate ways to get effective shots away. Lucia Leon, Brooke Nunn, Avaani Prakash and Familton were all trying their hardest to generate something for their sides, but just could not quite pickpocket their opponent’s defence to maximum effect.
The half time stats told a very interesting story.
The Phoenix ultimately finished the first half with about six percent more of the possession and got significantly more shots away than their hosts (eight to three), but crucially, they also only had one more shot on target than the Mariners did.
Perhaps keenly aware of the importance of this match not ending in a draw, the goal drought did not extend too long into the second half.
The Mariners scored first through Familton, who had been lively in the first half and was making the most of her starting debut. She found herself perfectly placed to be under the flight of a perfectly curled Peta Trimis cross, and then perfectly headed the ball past Phoenix keeper Victoria Esson and into the back of the net.
The home side doubled their lead just under half an hour later through Gomez, who let a bullet of a banger lose from just outside the top of the box that sailed into the top corner of the net, which Esson had no hope of stopping.
The evening’s offerings of bangers did not stop with Gomez though, as Fraser delivered one of her own a couple of minutes into stoppage time. It was the perfect free kick, taken just further out than where Gomez took her shot from, and it sailed straight past Annalee Grove and into the back of the net.
Teams: CENTRAL COAST MARINERS (4-4-2): Grove, Baumann, King, Barwick-Grey, Martin, Fuller, Kraszula, Gomez, Trimis, Familton, Prakash. Substitutes: Buchanan, Farrow, Levin, Thew, Quilligan, Varley.
Scorers: Familton 58’, Gomez 83’
WELLINGTON PHOENIX (4-4-2): Esson, Walker, Barry, van der Meer, Elliott, Nunn, Pijnenburg, Jale, Vlok, León, Anthony. Substitutes: Benson, Brazendale, Feinberg-Danieli, Fraser, Jaber, M.Woods.
Scorers: Fraser 93’
Referee: Sophie Allum.
Attendance: TBC.
Follow Impetus on social media:
@ImpetusFootball on Threads, Instagram and TikTok.
impetusfootball.org 