Road to the 2021 FFA Cup Final: Central Coast Mariners
Mudgee. Wollongong. Leichhardt. Kogarah.
Ten goals were split between nine different scorers as Central Coast Mariners booked a spot in their first ever FFA Cup Final with four away victories in a road trip around New South Wales.
Re-live the Mariners history-making cup run below.
Round of 32
Blacktown City 0-1 Central Coast Mariners
The Mariners kicked off their 2021 FFA Cup campaign with a 1-0 win over Blacktown City at Glen Willow Stadium in November.
A 76th minute strike from Beni Nkololo on debut proved decisive as the Mariners progressed in Mudgee.
Blacktown goalkeeper, Tristan Prendergast made a number of massive saves to keep the NPL side in the game, but a solitary goal was enough for a Mariners victory in Nick Montgomery’s first game in charge of the club.
Round of 16
Wollongong Wolves 1-2 Central Coast Mariners
Despite suffering an early scare, a 10-man Mariners side came from behind to defeat Wollongong Wolves 2-1 at WIN Stadium in early December.
The Mariners lost goalkeeper, Mark Birighitti to a red card after 20 minutes before Lachlan Scott converted the resulting penalty to give the Wolves an early lead.
Despite trailing 1-0 at the break, the Mariners regrouped and fought back in the second half, with first club goals for Moresche and Marry McCarthy sealing victory in Wollongong.
Quarter Final
APIA Leichhardt Tigers 0-6 Central Coast Mariners
The Mariners booked their spot in the Semi Finals with a comprehensive 6-0 win over APIA Leichhardt at Leichhardt Oval in December.
Max Balard, Dan Hall, Garang Kuol and Noah Smith all scored their first goals for the club, while Moresche netted his second goal of the Mariners Cup run and Matt Hatch stole the show with a stunner from an impossible angle.
The Mariners looked threatening from beginning to end and their mixture of experience & youth put on a show against giant killers, APIA who had knocked out Western Sydney Wanderers in the Round of 16.
Semi Final
Sydney FC 0-1 Central Coast Mariners
Having twice lost out at the Semi Final stage in the past, the Mariners put an end to their final four hoodoo defeating Sydney FC 1-0 at Netstrata Jubilee Stadium.
Marco Ureña's spot kick with eight minutes left on the clock was enough to send the Mariners into their first ever FFA Cup Final in an impressive display from Nick Montgomery’s side.
Sydney FC goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne made a number of outstanding saves to keep the Sky Blues in the game, before ultimately being beaten from the spot by the Mariners' Costa Rican forward.
