Central Coast Mariners accounted for Adelaide United 3-0 in the A-League on the weekend. Matt Simon, Sash Petrovski and Adrian Caceres provided the goals for the Mariners who jump to second on the table, displacing the Reds who have had a tough fortnight with both league and Asian Champions League matches.
"Adelaide looked reasonably sharp early and our second goal came at a great time," said Mariners Football Manager Lawrie McKinna after the match.
"In the second half they chucked men forward and really had a go at us and we defended well - our performance was solid, we've had better performances, but tonight our shape was good, our work rate was good and particularly our shape in defence was great.
"We said all week that this game was a big one for us - we got three points and we're sitting second where we think we deserve to be," McKinna added.
"Playing Melbourne in Melbourne, we love playing down there, we've had some great games down there and it's going to be a huge game.
"We'll be going down there knowing what to expect from them, but we'll be back ourselves that we can go down there and get a result."
The Mariners will travel to Melbourne for the top of the table clash whilst third-placed Adelaide United hosts fourth-placed Sydney FC in the next round of A-League matches.