ACL Game 2...AUSSIE CHAMPS v J-LEAGUE CHAMPS

Central Coast Mariners FC (AUS): 2 (Sterjovski 23’, 32’)

Sanfrecce Hiroshima (JPN): 1 (Shiotani 21’)

Well... i'll be honest, stand up and shout out loudly,  and say,  I thought we would get reamed...BUT I was never so happy to be wrong....The boys played their hearts out for us, J league champions be buggered, the Coast were determined to win. The stadium although a lousy turn out, due to the night of the week and crappy promotion, or thats the reasons I've heard, had a real good vibe about it filled with dedicated die hard mariners fans inspired by a tremendous performance by the passionate bay 16 

the boys were up for it and Sterj...just WOW...not bad for an old bloke huh....Kims vision that led to goal one was superb and goal two was just sublime, one of the best seen at BT methinks...to be fair, i thought Matty Simon might of got walked the way him and that jap were carrying on like pork chops..and as for Zacs daks...geez

When defender Tsukasa Shiotani headed home the Hiroshima goalwe were all wondering what the hell sort of goal celebration that was...well, it was in honor of Tsukasa-sans grandmother who passed in the Tsunami 3 years ago to the day...so thats what's what

Despite going for long periods without the ball we were able hit on the counter & it proved to be a great tactic with a tremendous goal to Sterj after a awesome through ball from Kim....speaking of Kim, that was the worst attempt at a header when he was on the back post I've ever seen...BUT his excellent job of man marking their play maker was a key tactical move, Every player played his heart out for the "YELLOW" but for mine Nick Montgomery was superb.

The second goal was rolling back to the Socceroo years.all Sterj though.From out near the sideline on the club side he hit a magic shot with the outside of his right foot which swerved around the outside of the keeper.This was a 1: million shot & certainly a candidate for goal of the year.

Great result for the Mariners tonight, bit dissapointed at the crowd number but on a Tuesday night with sweet FA advertising i can understand the low number.

NOW to bay 16 ...i was talking to Fish and Harry during warm up and we were a bit concerned about bay numbers...BUT...the YA came through, as did the noisy Brasstards and the bay and 2000 other soles sung our hearts out for 96 minutes...the circuit by the boys after the game was brilliant...Sterj looked like he would be out there all night....and the refs were almost not shite...although, if they worked like they did in Seoul, I would more than likely be spewing..so I guess its all relative

Loved the band march through the stand...Stand up & take a bow YA, You were AWESOME

PS . Those security fools should be banned from the ground, utter imbeciles.

: 3. Joshua ROSE, 5. Zac ANDERSON, 7. John HUTCHINSON (C), 8. Nick MONTGOMERY, 11. Nick FITZGERALD (20. Bernie IBINI 868’), 12. Liam REDDY (Gk), 15. Storm ROUX, 19. Matthew SIMON (9. Mitchell DUKE 60’), 21. Mile STERJOVSKI (29. Matt SIM 85’), 25. Eddy BOSNAR, 26. Kim SEUNG-YONG

Substitutes not used: 1. Justin PASFIELD (Gk), 6. Brent GRIFFITHS, 27. Isaka CERNAK, 28. Glen TRIFIRO

 1. Takuto HAYASHI (Gk), 4. Hiroki MIZUMOTO, 5. Kazuhiko CHIBA, 6. Toshihiro AOYAMA (C), 9. Naoki ISHIHARA, 10. Yojiro TAKAHAGI (36. Hayao KAWABE 80’), 17. Park HYUNGJIN, 18. Yoshifumi KASHIWA (24. Gakuto NOTSUDA 54’), 29. Asano TAKUMA, 30. Kosei SHIBAKASI (22. Yusuke MINAGAWA 87’), 33. Tsukasa SHIOTANI
Substitutes not used: 13. Takuya MASUDA (Gk), 25. Yusuke CHAJIMA, 28. Takuya MARUTANI, 37. Kazuya MIYAHARA