(David Elliott blogs on the Central Coast Mariners for BPL.)

The warning signs were there early. Before kick-off even.

"With Perez out there was no need to change the Mariners' game plan," said Captain Wilkinson, "Hutch will slide in and do the same job as Patricio," he concluded. As soon as the words had passed his lips, I knew we were in for a game bereft of ideas and creativity from the Mariners. Surely Wilko knows that Patricio Perez is more than just one class above John ‘Bucket Arse' Hutchinson, just as Brisbane showed they were classes above the Mariners last night.

And look, if you think I am being too harsh or negative - you only have to look as far as the game's opening phase. Brisbane Roar managed to put together roughly 12 or 13 passes with relative ease and when the Mariners finally did manage a touch on the ball, I counted two or three passes before the ball was kicked long and they lost it under pressure. Not a great surprise.

I will concede the Mariners were up against it. Brisbane have been playing well and deserve their spot at the pointy end of the table. And to be fair, so to do the Mariners although I question Graham Arnold's game plan. Brisbane were on a short turn around, having played on Saturday night and the Mariners hadn't played in 18 days so it would have made more sense to go on the front foot. Sure conceding the early goal may have thrown a spanner in the works.

You'll argue that opening goal was opportunistic. But the facts are that a Broich, a quality player, shouldn't have had that much room on the corner of the 18 yard box, especially when Matt McKay had tried the same thing from the opposite side only minutes before. The Mariners did well to fight their way back into the match but were too often let down by the lack of quality in the attacking third. Daniel McBreen hasn't captured the goal-scoring form that he found at Perth Glory, Matty Simon's inability to control a ball with his first touch continually frustrates and the less said about the set plays the better!

If it wasn't the half-time whistle that killed the Mariners spirit, it was definitely Ivan Franjic's bullet in the 61st minute certainly did and then Franjic's goal celebration did the rest. The injection of some of the Central Coast's much lauded Mariners in Amini and Lewis did nothing to stem the tide and the players frustration was evident with 5 yellow cards being issued to the visiting team. Both Matt Simon and John Hutchinson were lucky to finish the game after ridiculous challenges.

I choked on my steak when, at the start of the game, commentators mentioned the Mariners had been flying under the radar and was even more surprised when I found myself agreeing with Miron Blieberg as he laughed off this suggestion pointing out that they play with the same formation as they have for the previous five seasons of the A-League and too often they fall back into the bad habit of playing the long ball.

Last night proved you can't win a football game without the ball. Now Graham Arnold has 10 days to go back to the drawing board - and to find a worthy replacement for Perez.