Western Sydney Wanderers beat Central Coast Mariners 5-1 in a pre-season hit-out at Wanderers Football Park on 26 September, their third win in a row this pre-season. In Sportsbet’s Grand Final winner market, though, they sit only seventh, paying $11.00.
Five goals for the members
Entry was for members only, as the game formed part of the club’s season launch. It was played in the afternoon heat, and a drinks break was called in the first half. Alex Gersbach opened the scoring straight after it.
New signing Miguel Di Pizio got the second against his old club. Thurgate made it 3-0 by half-time. Soon after the restart Aydan Hammond added a fourth, and young Awan Lual scored from close range. Central Coast only answered late on, when Ali Auglah scored direct from a free kick. Neither goal times nor a crowd figure came out.
Lining up from the start were Thomas, Gersbach, Pantazopoulos, Ferreyra, Madanha, Scicluna, Di Pizio, Thurgate, Gillion, Milanovic and Borrello.
Only members got to see the hit-out, and everyone else had to make do with the club’s match report. Access through a membership or an account is familiar well beyond football, and at Wild Tokyo Casino the personal dashboard opens through a login, while https://wildtokyo-aussie.bet/ sets out every kind of bonus and promotion in one place. Anyone with a ticket can get into the first game of the season, on 16 October at Allianz Stadium.
The pre-season run
It started on 16 September with a 4-0 win over Wellington Phoenix behind closed doors. Atiya Waraga, Liam Gillion, Di Pizio and Hiroshi Ibusuki scored.
Three days later at McLean Park in Napier, the Wanderers beat reigning champions Auckland FC 3-1. Brandon Borrello scored in the third minute and again soon after half-time, with Gillion, a former Auckland player, netting in between. Going by the Wanderers’ own account, Dylan Scicluna was involved in the build-up to all three goals.
The Wanderers finished bottom last season, taking the wooden spoon for the first time in their history. Ufuk Talay, appointed on 30 March, now runs the side.
What the market says
Sportsbet’s Grand Final winner market read the same when checked at 4:15pm and again at 4:33pm Sydney time on 29 September. Top billing is shared at $5.50 by Auckland FC, Newcastle Jets and Sydney FC. Melbourne City are next on $6.00, then Adelaide United and Melbourne Victory on $7.00 apiece. Only then come the Wanderers. Their $11.00 puts them ahead of Macarthur on $13.00, Wellington on $17.00 and Perth on $19.00, while Brisbane and Central Coast prop up the market at $26.00.
Neds, in a market it published on 25 September, was less generous to the Wanderers at $13.00, with Adelaide at $10.00 and Victory at $6.00. Neither snapshot is independently archived. Prices may have moved by kick-off. On the raw numbers $11.00 is roughly a 9 per cent chance, which drops to about 7 per cent once the margin across the whole market is stripped out. Six teams sit above them.
Other hit-outs
Perth Glory beat Adelaide United 2-0 in front of 1,136 people at Hay Park in Bunbury on 27 September. Sebastian Despotovski followed up after a Joshua Smits save in the 46th minute, and Lucas Scicluna scored on 54 minutes from a pass by captain Stefan Colakovski.
Melbourne City won 2-0 away to Oakleigh Cannons at Jack Edwards Reserve on 25 September. New signings Matheus Rossetto, Emiliano Marcondes and Awer Mabil all started, Andrew Nabbout scored in the first half and Liam Bonetig finished a Mathew Baker cross after the break.
The season opener
A-League Men kicks off on 16 October with the Sydney derby between Sydney FC and the Wanderers at Allianz Stadium, at 8pm Sydney daylight time. Across 28 rounds, each club plays 26 games. Last season’s champions Auckland beat Sydney FC 1-0 in the Grand Final on 23 May, while Newcastle Jets were premiers.
