Daniel McBreen of the Mariners celebrates his second goal of the match during the A-League 2013 Grand Final. Photo / Getty Images.
The Central Coast Mariners executed football's equivalent of shooting Bambi, depriving the Western Sydney Wanderers of the perfect finish to their fairytale first season.
But in doing so the Mariners completed a fairytale of their own, winning their first A-League grand final in four attempts to erase a history of
heartbreak.
Two months ago the Mariners were in financial crisis. Players were not being paid. They had to borrow money to meet their bills and mortgages until Englishman Mike Charlesworth bought the club and saved the day.
Graham Arnold's team made Charlesworth's rescue act all worthwhile in Sunday's decider.
They scored an emphatic 2-0 victory, crushing the expectations of a 42,100 crowd at Sydney's Allianz Stadium, filled three to one by the newly fabled fans from Sydney's west waving red and black colours.
