Glory for Jets
Central Coast defender Tony Vidmar's farewell match has ended in a nightmare after the former Socceroos horror mistake was punished by Newcastle Jets striker Mark Bridge in a dramatic 2007/08 Hyundai A-League Grand Final at the SFS.
The Jets took out the decider 1-0 in front of 36,354 fans after Mark Bridge, capitalising on an uncharacteristic error from the experienced Vidmar, drilled home the only goal of the match in the 64th minute.
The game ended in highly controversial circumstances after the Mariners were denied a penalty in the dying stages after James Holland appeared to flick the ball away with his elbow inside the six-yard box following a corner.
Central Coast goalkeeper Danny Vukovic, who had raced upfield to await the corner, was sent off by referee Mark Shield after protesting the non-decision.
The no-penalty call and Vidmar's gaffe will dominate post-match talk.
Vidmar tried to turn and look back towards his goalkeeper but got himself badly tangled and was dispossessed by Bridge.
He lunged at Bridge but it was too late, the Jets striker finding only open space and an advancing Alex Wilkinson between him and the Central Coast goal.
After seeing off the Wilkinson threat, Bridge let fly with an unstoppable shot from just outside the box which smacked into the top right-hand corner, leaving an airborne Vukovic no hope at all.
Vidmar was replaced in the 75th minute and will be forever haunted by his mistake.
It always appeared likely a slip-up would bring about a goal, so tight was the contest between two evenly matched sides.
It is Newcastle's first national football title but for the Mariners it's a second grand final loss in three years.
The first half produced plenty in the way of spite but very little goalmouth action, both sides playing cautiously in a typically tight grand final.
The match erupted in the 11th minute when Joel Griffiths went in for a knee-high challenge on Mile Jedinak.
It led to an ugly scuffle involving almost every player on the field.
Griffiths was awarded a yellow card and was the victim of an even-up two minutes later when Jedinak was booked for bringing the Jets striker down.
It took 14 minutes for the first shot on goal - albeit a weak one - after Griffiths threaded a nice ball for Tarek Elrich.
Matt Thompson posed a greater threat when he latched on to a low cross from Adam D'Apuzzo in the 17th minute, only to see his flick sail just over the bar.
It was all the Jets at this stage, Mark Bridge driving a shot just wide of the target after a lovely lay-off from Jin-Hyung Song.
It took the nervous Mariners half an hour to launch a raid on the Newcastle goal.
Adam Kwasnik, gliding down the left flank, dummied to cross and rounded Song before dragging his near post shot into the side netting.
That half-chance appeared to snap Central Coast out of its lethargy, with a well-struck Greg Owens effort from outside the area blocked and cleared on the penalty spot.
Another member of the Griffiths clan - Jets defender Adam - entered the referee's book in the 38th minute after taking John Hutchinson's legs from under him.
The second half followed a similar pattern to the first - plenty of endeavour but a lack of cohesion or decent ball-to-feet passing.
Bridge's goal and a raft of replacements opened the game up as the chances started to fall both ways.
An irate John Aloisi was denied a penalty in the 86th minute when Adam D'Apuzzo appeared to tug at the former Australian striker's shirt as he lunged at a cross.
But the referee was having nothing of it and found himself in hotter water minutes later when he turned down another penalty claim following Holland's handball.