Mariners coach ‘delighted’ with match-winner’s ‘great confidence’ to pull off penalty surprise

Full-back Mikael Doka of the Central Coast Mariners had not yet scored an Isuzu UTE A-League goal when he took ownership of winning Sunday’s match against Western Sydney Wanderers.

However, the playmaking was just as confident as the Brazilian full-back, who won the admiration of his coach, Mark Jackson, with a penalty kick that gave the Mariners all three points.

Throughout his rookie season in Australia, Doka has found it difficult to find regular playing time in the Mariners lineup, only managing six starts out of 17 appearances thus far. However, the defender proved he had the number nine finishing touch when he curled a penalty kick into the bottom-right corner to win the match at Industree Group Stadium in the 83rd minute.

Central Coast’s leading scorer Ángel Torres was sidelined through injury in Round 17, and with the Colombian winger out of action, the logical thought would have been that second-half substitute and January recruit Ryan Edmondson would take on penalty duties in the defining moment of the evenly-split affair.

But Doka’s conviction paid off in spades – and post-game, Jackson lauded his defender for taking ownership of the moment and sealing the three points that strengthened Central Coast’s grip on second place.

“Delighted,” Jackson said. “I’m glad he stood up and got the ball.

“Ryan (Edmondson) is a good penalty taker as well, but I was glad to see he got hold of the ball and put it in the back of the net. That shows great confidence from him.”

Following a depressing 3-1 loss to Sydney FC at home in Round 17, Doka’s strong penalty kick ensured the Mariners returned to winning ways. Now, with three games remaining against Macarthur FC and Melbourne Victory in third and fourth place, respectively, Jackson’s team is well-positioned to finish in the top two.

In their 18 games this season, the Mariners have only let up 22 goals while maintaining seven clean sheets, the most recent of which came against the Wanderers. After the game, Jackson praised his team’s structure and discipline and talked highly of them for limiting their opponents to only one shot on goal during the narrow victory.

How we connect as a team defensively, how we stay connected, and how we connect moving forward is a key part of our game, and it’s something we’ve worked hard on, not just this week, Jackson said.

“We use the word a lot in our training sessions, game planning, game reviews, and discussions about our connection. Additionally, I felt that we played really well without the ball today and kept them to a minimum.