Krishna, Phoenix scale new scoring heights in stunning Mariners rout

Roy Krishna set a personal goalscoring record as he led a rampant Wellington Phoenix into unchartered territory during their 8-2 crushing of Central Coast Mariners.

Mark Rudan’s ran riot in Gosford on Saturday night, scoring four goals in both halves to rack up the club’s largest ever Hyundai A-League victory in incredible fashion.

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The most the Kiwi side had previously scored in a single match was six, but an in-form Krishna ensured that mark was under threat from the early stages.

The Fiji international contributed two goals to the carnage, intelligently lobbing Ben Kennedy in the 12th minute and clinically tucking away another in first-half stoppage time as he broke his duck at Central Coast Stadium. 

Krishna, who was directly involved in the own-goal opener and later notched an assist, now sits level with Adam Le Fondre at the top of the Golden Boot tally.

The 31-year-old has netted 14 times in 21 games, two more goals than he scored during his formerly most prolific campaign of 2016/17.

The next target for the sought-after forward is to surpass the club-record 16 scored by Jeremy Brockie six seasons ago.

“He was one of the first I gave a big hug to when I came to the club,” Rudan said of Krishna.

“I told him just how important he was going to be and we were going to work hard to get the best out of him.

“That’s where he’s heading towards but there’s more to come.”

And though the woodwork ultimately denied Krishna a hat-trick, his team-mates picked up the slack: Wellington benefitted from five individual goalscorers, one shy of the record six set by Perth Glory against Brisbane Roar in 2016.

The Mariners, meanwhile, were left to digest not only their second 8-2 hiding in the space of 12 months but also a slice of unwanted Hyundai A-League history, having become the first club to concede 50 goals or more in four separate seasons.