On Friday night the Central Coast Mariners returned to Bluetongue Stadium after six weeks of having to play away while the surface of the pitch was worked on.
For Mariners fans it was a disappointing return home as they drew 0-0 with Perth Glory, although this reaction was a little harsh, as the Mariners became only the second team this season to stop the Glory scoring. Adelaide having been the first to do this in round one. They had scored in 14 consecutive rounds a new Hyundai A League record.
While the Glory were happy to negate a rampaging Mariners who had scored nine goals in their last two outings.
The most bizarre thing about this game was witnessing the grounds man lurking on the touchline and when play was on the other side of the pitch or the other end of the park, running on and replacing divots and pouring sand in any of the holes. Has anyone ever seen a grounds person actually take the field when the ball is in play?
What made it equally astounding was that the referee and his assistants seemed to allow him on the pitch. It will be interesting to see if this is a regular occurrence at Bluetongue for the rest of the season.
