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Golden Boot hopeful ... Daniel McBreen got the Mariners on their way against the Heart. Source: Paul Miller / AAP
Central Coast have beaten a 10-man Melbourne Heart 2-1 at Bluetongue Stadium on Saturday in an A-League game that had not much more than pride on the line.
With Western Sydney securing the Premiers' Plate on Friday the second-placed Mariners were simply wanting a win to carry momentum into the finals series.
The Heart meanwhile, already out of the finals hunt, were only hoping the for three points to help avoid the dreaded wooden spoon.
Daniel McBreen opened the scoring in the first half after Heart defender Patrick Gerhardt was sent-off for a hand ball in the box gifting the Mariners a penalty.
| P | W | D | L | GD | Pts | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Western Sydney | 27 | 18 | 3 | 6 | 20 | 57 |
| 2 | Central Coast | 27 | 16 | 6 | 5 | 26 | 54 |
| 3 | Victory | 26 | 12 | 5 | 9 | 2 | 41 |
| 4 | Adelaide | 27 | 12 | 5 | 10 | 1 | 41 |
| 5 | Brisbane | 27 | 10 | 5 | 12 | 4 | 35 |
| 6 | Perth | 27 | 9 | 5 | 13 | -2 | 32 |
| 7 | Sydney | 27 | 9 | 5 | 13 | -10 | 32 |
| 8 | Newcastle | 27 | 8 | 7 | 12 | -15 | 31 |
| 9 | Heart | 27 | 8 | 3 | 16 | -9 | 27 |
| 10 | Wellington | 26 | 7 | 6 | 13 | -17 | 27 |
Mitchell Duke doubled the host's advantage in the second half with Richard Garcia getting a late consolation for the Heart, scoring the side's first goal outside Melbourne in 499 minutes.
Veteran striker McBreen now looks on track for the A-League golden boot award scoring his 17th goal of the season to extend his lead at the top of the scorers' list ahead of Wellington's Jeremy Brockie, who needs to bag at least a double against Melbourne Victory on Sunday to claim the title.
The Heart meanwhile ended their season on the worst of notes, being reduced to 10-men after 30 minutes. Coach John Aloisi was also sent-off for dissent after disputing the referee's call, meaning he'll be suspended from the Heart's first game of next season.
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After a shaky start, the Heart picked up the intensity with Garcia and Josip Tadic forcing saves from Mariners gloveman Justin Pasfield, who was between the sticks in place of first-choice keeper Mattew Ryan who was being rested ahead of the finals.
But just when the Heart looked to have the momentum, disaster struck with Gerhardt sent-off for a handball after a flurry of shots from the Mariners.
McBreen looked like breaking the deadlock just after the half hour mark with Simon Colosimo clearing it off the line.
Mile Sterjovski scooped up the rebound to attempt a shot himself drawing a handball from Gerhardt and earning a penalty for the Mariners.
Re-live all the action from the clash, including video of all the goals, at our A-League Match Centre.
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McBreen, who had missed two penalties this season, stepped up to the spot in the 35th minute and made no mistake this time.
Duke put the hosts 2-0 up in the 65th minute after getting on the end of a Anthony Caceres ball.
Garcia then got one back for the visitors courtesy of good lead-up work from Dylan Macallister.
Mariners coach Graham Arnold was not only left pleased with his charges' effort on Saturday, but with what he feels has been their strongest season.
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"If you look at the stats, we're a better side than what we were last year," he said.
"We finished with 54 points and last year we had 51 and we won it (the minor premiership).
"We scored more goals than last year and conceded less goals, and we lost the least amount of games in the league.
"It took a side who got 34 points out of 36 to beat us over the line, but that's life," he said of the Wanderers, who won a remarkable 11 games out of the last 12.
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"It was very disappointing because we ended up losing the last five games. With a couple of wins we may have been playing next week,'' dejected Heart coach John Aloisi said.
"Before the red card ... we were well and truly in the game.
"I think everyone in the stadium saw he didn't hand-ball it, except the referee.
"It's very hard not to get upset in situations like that. If I don't, it means I don't care and I care.
"I don't want to lose. I don't want to finish at the bottom of the table and now Melbourne Heart may finish bottom."
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