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Goal sets up season for Central Coast's Spencer [Sat Sep 17th, 2005]
Despite not being known for his goalscoring ability, Central Coast captain Noel Spencer says he would like to make a "habit" of finding the back of the net after netting his side's dramatic winner against Sydney FC.
With the scores locked at 2-2 and, by his own admission, being "under the pump" against Sydney's Dwight Yorke-led attack; Spencer scored a deflected 92nd minute free kick to hand the Mariners a 3-2 win in front of 15,600 Sydneysiders at Aussie Stadium.
It was the midfielder's second winner from four matches for the club he skippers following his goal-of-the-season candidate round one strike at Perth Glory; and it's one that he realises could spark the Mariners' season.
"What can I say?" an ecstatic and stunned Spencer said when quizzed about his goal.
"A bit of luck. Fortunately it took a deflection, probably went 30 metres in the air and it happened to go over the white line. At the end of the day, we're just happy with the result. It really does set our season up.
"As a team, we'd like to be in the play-offs. We've got to win our games at home, and pick up some points away and that is why tonight's result is so important for us."
Taking us through the goal: "Tommy (Pondeljak) played it to Hutch (John Hutchinson), to try and get the ball away from the wall, and then I just tried to hit the shot on target.
"It took the deflection because they had numbers in the box and, lucky enough, it just went in."
"It's fantastic," Spencer added when asked about his uncharacteristic early-season scoring exploits. "We do practice a lot of shooting at training. The one in Perth was very special, as it was important for the team, and a great strike.
"And once again tonight it was an important goal, but more (based on) luck. I'd like to make a habit of it," he revealed cheekily.
The Mariners had led the match 2-1 at half-time thanks to Stewart Petrie and Andre Gumprecht cancelling out Andrew Packer's opener.
But when Dwight Yorke levelled for the home side with 20 minutes remaining, a draw seemed the best result for the Mariners until Spencer scored his lucky but important winner.
The loss was Sydney's second in a row, and placed the pressure on Pierre Littbarski's men to live up to their 'glamour club' tag on the park.
AAP
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