Goalkeeper Ben Kennedy has urged Central Coast Mariners fans to attend Sunday’s clash with Adelaide United and wear pink in the process.
The Mariners will wear bright pink against the Reds in support of women’s cancer research, prevention and support services on the Central Coast.
It is the seventh consecutive season that the Mariners have dedicated a Hyundai A-League home fixture to raise funds for Cancer Council NSW and, for Kennedy, the fixture has special meaning.
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The 31-year-old lost his mother, Karen, to breast cancer last year.
“Obviously pink round is a massive thing,” Kennedy said.
“You raise some funds for women’s cancer. I’ve been affected by it with my mum so just to see what the funds go towards and what they help is massive.
“It helps out so many people and I’m just happy to be part of it and honoured that the club’s part of it as well.
“[I] lost mum to breast cancer. She was a fighter. She ended up lasting, four, four-and-a-half years, which [the] doctor said probably after a year, she only had a few weeks. She battled a long time.”
The Mariners will auction off player jerseys following the match, while fans are encouraged to dig deep with bucket collections to be run throughout Sunday’s fixture.
“We want to get as many people there as we can, wearing pink, and raise as much funds as we can,” Kennedy added.
“We feel a win is just around the corner … we’ll be prepared for Adelaide and we feel that if we play our game and do everything that we can, that we’ll come away with the win.”
The milestone man
The match is defender Jack Clisby’s 100th in the Hyundai A-League after a journey that has taken him to four different clubs.
Clisby said reaching the milestone was a “very proud moment” and knows stopping Adelaide’s Craig Goodwin will be crucial to taking all three points.
Goodwin scored a stunning brace in United’s 2-1 FFA Cup Final win over Sydney FC on Tuesday night.
“[They were] two fantastic strikes, left foot and right foot, so he’s definitely a threat for them,” Clisby said.
“But there’s definitely areas where they’re lacking and we’re going to pinpoint that and try and capitalise on that.
“After the last two results that we’ve had and the way we’ve played, we’re leading into this game full of confidence.”
