The Football Tragic

It was, quite simply, the greatest night of football I've ever witnessed. No adjectives can do tonight's Central Coast v. Sydney game proper justice.

Not, please note, the best football I've ever seen (not by a long way). But the best overall experience, without a doubt.

All the elements were there:

Great goals

Mile Jedinak's thumping opener (with a bit of help from Robbie Middleby). John Aloisi's classic striker's finish for the Mariners' second. Adam Biddle's fine run and deft angled strike. Brendan Santalab's fulminating volley, which was in the net before most of us had realised he'd even hit it. Enough to please any connoisseur of solo goals.

Brilliant saves

Although Matthew Trott was painfully slow off his line for most of the evening, he pulled off two memorable saves to keep the Mariners in with a shot towards the close; a full-stretch tip-over from Ufuk Talay's sumptuous free-kick, followed by a superb point-blank stop from a Steve Corica shot.

Talking points

Although most referees would surely have sent Danny Vukovic off, there is still that nagging doubt as to whether the handling was intentional. The Mariners fans certainly experienced such doubts, and Matthew Breeze was subject to all sorts of abuse from the western stand (where I was sitting) throughout. God knows what the reaction from Bay 16 was like.

Then there were the two penalties, another red card, a yellow which might have been a red...it was heady stuff.

The deus ex machina

It always adds spice to the story when a substitute enters the game and effects a vital breakthrough. And tonight it happened, not once, not twice, not three times...but four times. Matt Simon's surging run won the penalty that put the Mariners back into the lead at 3-2; the other outfield subs, Biddle, Santalab and Adam Kwasnik, all subsequently scored.

Unlikely heroes

Incredibly, four of Sydney's five scorers were yet to register their first goal this season. One can think of few less obvious heroes than the peripheral Terry McFlynn, Santalab the eternal substitute, or the frail-looking Biddle. Yet the night's honours belonged to them.

Hero-to-villain

Again, not one but two instances of this: Iain Fyfe heading Sydney's opener before clumsily allowing Matt Simon through on goal to win the Mariners' spot kick, followed by Adam Kwasnik sliding home the equaliser at 4-4 before his fatal handball in the final minute of injury time.

Crowd participation

The Mariners' best-ever crowd were hanging on every pass, and the level of support for the home side was outstanding. The Cove, too, were in magnificent voice, coming fully to life after the dismissal of Danny Vukovic, when it became clear that a major comeback was on the cards. By the end, the exchanges between Bay 16 and the mass of sky blue in the south-eastern corner of the stadium made for a truly spine-tingling experience. 17,000 sounded like 45,000.

Two work colleagues of mine made their way up to Bluetongue tonight for their first ever A-League experience.

They will be back.