Olyroos star Kristian Sarkies set up three goals and scored two as Adelaide thumped a disappointing Central Coast 6-1 in the National Youth League at Gosford on Saturday night.
In one of the most dominant performances of the season, Adelaide completely outclassed the Mariners at Bluetongue Stadium.
Sarkies and striker Robert Younis were stand-outs. Sarkies, who played in the Asian Champions League final on Wednesday night, was a class above, while Younis would have gained plenty of confidence from his two-goal contribution.
The Mariners were never in the match and stay at the bottom of the table. The only joy for the home side was a well-taken lob from striker Brady Smith in second half injury time.
While the Mariners lacked spark, Adelaide was a constant threat to the defence. Sarkies was too quick and Younis too strong for the Mariners defence.
A diving header from Shane Tobias opened the scoring in the 12th minute and ten minutes later a freekick from Sarkies laid on Adelaide-s second for Michael Doyle.
When Sarkies laid on Adelaide-s third for Younis in the 32nd minute the match was in United-s control.
Sarkies capped a brilliant first half with Adelaide-s fourth goal five minutes before half-time.
The Mariners were better in the second half but rarely threatened Adelaide-s defence and Younis got his second in the 76th minute before Sarkies scored his second in the 90th minute.
The Mariners will need to regroup quickly with an away match against Queensland on Wednesday night followed by a clash against Melbourne on Saturday.
Match Details
Central Coast Mariners 1 (Brady Smith 93-)
Adelaide United 6 (Shane Tobias 11-, Michael Doyle 22-, Robert Younis 32-/77-, Kristian Sarkies 40-/92-)
Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
Saturday 15 November 2008
Referee: Stuart Wolfe
Central Coast Mariners line-up: 30.Andrew REDMAYNE (gk), 2.Steven TIBBETTS, 3.Andrea MERENDA (OA) (17.Sean MITCHELL 60-), 5.Nathan SHERLOCK, 6.Andre GUMPRECHT (OA), 7.Matthew LEWIS, 9.Brady SMITH, 10.Glen TRIFIRO (11.Darko VIDOVIC 60-), 12.Scott WRIGHT, 13.Laurence BRAUDE, 15.Chris TADROSSE (OA) (8.Ty OWENS 60-)
Substitutes not used: 1.Matthew NASH (OA) (gk)
Yellow cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
Adelaide United line-up: 20.Mark BIRIGHITTI (gk) (30.Lucas ANDREUCCI (gk) 45-), 2.Michael DOYLE, 3.Scott WEIDENBACH, 4.Michael MARRONE, 5.Shane TOBIAS, 7.Daniel MULLEN (6.Alexander SUNASKY 52-), 8.Kristian SARKIES (OA), 9.Andrew CIARLA (15.Francesco MONTEROSSO 59-), 10.Osama MALIK, 11.Robert YOUNIS (OA), 16.Michael DE BONO (21.Angelo ARAMBATSIS 55-)
Substitutes not used: Nil
Yellow cards: Michael Doyle 60-
Red Cards: Nil
