Football
AAP 8y

Nine-man Central Coast Mariners' loss was 'indefensible' - Tony Walmsley

The Central Coast Mariners were on the wrong end of the referee's whistle in a 4-0 defeat to Perth Glory on Saturday night that guaranteed them the wooden spoon, but coach Tony Walmsley is focused on longer term goals.

The Mariners' loss to the now fifth-placed Glory was their sixth straight. They will finish last, despite four A-League games remaining against Sydney, Adelaide, Western Sydney and Newcastle.

Referee Adam Fielding handed out eight yellow cards on Saturday -- all to Mariners players, with two resulting in penalties and two yielding red cards for Mitch Austin and Luis Garcia.

While Walmsley will work with his players on their discipline, he has had enough.

"Our disciplinary record is terrible, it's indefensible and individuals need to recognise when they are on a card they can't be reckless. But I think it's a bit unfortunate with Micky Neill last week and the guys this week," Walmsley said.

"It's not an eight card game and then you start to feel a little bit victimised. You look for fouls that the opponent's dishing out and wonder why they aren't being penalised the same way, but who as a coach wants to be getting involved in that?"

Despite being guaranteed of finishing last, Walmsley is confident the steps made for the future this season will lead Central Coast to being sustainable and successful.

"The players need to grow up quickly. If this doesn't hurt them as professional athletes, then they won't be professional athletes for too long. It's burning everybody," Walmsley said.

"It's definitely not where we thought we would be and it's not where we want to be. But we have made all the right steps off the field to make sure the club is viable and moving toward being the most innovative and entertaining football club in Australia."

Meanwhile, Glory coach Kenny Lowe is focusing on cementing their spot in the top six with a trip to Wellington and Newcastle in the next two weeks.

"We will fly into Wellington, play it and go to Newcastle early and have a few days up there just for a change of scenery," Lowe said.

"It was a super trip last time [to Wellington and Sydney]. We won both games so if we can do anything like that this time we'll have a happy bunch in the changing room."

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