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IT was billed as the Sterjovski send off, and in the end the Mariners went the extra mile to show the champions are still in business.
Bernie Ibini's dramatic late winner lifted both the roof off Central Coast Stadium and the Mariners above Western Sydney, meaning the race for second place will go down to the wire. Mile Stejovski's retirement can safely be put off for a few more weeks.
Re-live the action at our Match Centre, with video , play-by-play updates, stats and polls.
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On a wet Gosford night 12 months ago Western Sydney had sunk the Mariners' title hopes, and a year later Central Coast duly enjoyed their revenge served chilled to perfection.
Hanging on to the top six just a few weeks ago, now they are set fair for a top four finish and home advantage in the finals.
"I'm delighted with the performance - the three points are handy but I'm proud of the players," said coach Phiol Moss.
"Tonight we made a statement that we're here for keeps - we can achieve what we like if we play like that.
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"Tonight we showed that we can match it with the best going forward, and the score could have been even greater."
Wanderers coach Tony Popovic admitted his side had invited defeat by their second-half lapses. "First half we were outstanding, controlled the game and it would have been a disaster to go in 1-0 down at halftime.
"But the second half just wasn't good enough. We invited pressure and if you keep giving the ball away, you risk something like that happening."
The Mariners though would have been hard to live with for any opponent, such was their intensity married to some admirable one-touch football.
Retiring former Socceroo Mile Sterjovski bids the Mariners home fans farewell. Source: Getty Images
This was a game that mattered, fuelled by tension and sparking into life all over the pitch. Matt Simon set the tone with a late tackle on Youssouf Hersi for which he was highly fortunate to escape with only a ticking off.
Retribution came instead via a series of robust challenges from the Wanderers on the Mariners striker, the worst of which - a blatant bodycheck by Dean Heffernan - somehow went unpunished.
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Fortunately some players had their concentration on the football - Aaron Mooy in particular was effervescent as the Wanderers playmaker, almost scoring himself with a stunning angled shot from distance that crashed off the home crossbar.
But the Mariners were electric on the break, and when Josh Rose took a loose ball just inside his own half, the crowd rose to their feet. But few expected the leftback to still have the ball as he strode into the Wanderers box after a barnstorming run, threading his shot across Covic and in off the far post.
Immediately Western Sydney lifted the tempo, winning a succession of corners, and with 40 minutes played the score was level. Mooy was the main architect, finding room on the left to deliver a deep cross that Tomi Juric volleyed back across goal, and Topor-Stanley's outstretched boot did the rest.
Mariners fans make some noise at Central Coast Stadium. Source: Getty Images
Now the contest was really alive, with Mooy given time for a powerful shot just over the bar. The home fans then screamed for a penalty, with some justification, as Fitzgerald was taken out in the box, before Sterjovski departed the stage to a thunderous ovation.
His replacement, Ibini, almost had an immediate impact with a flashing shot narrowly wide, and the 13,157 crowd couldn't take their eyes off it, especially the Mariners' inventive attacking. Simon's square pass across the top of the box was dummied by Kim, but substitute Mitchell Duke hit his shot too high.
Still the home side attacked, and Rose found Ibini with an angled pass, only for the striker to fire wide again. Then Duke's imperious cross from wide on the right missed Simon's boot by millimetres.
So there was a sense of natural justice when Ibini struck in the 90th minute. Kim began it, slipping the ball to Roux in the box, and his calm cutback was sidefooted home to spark yellow delight.
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