THE Western NSW Mariners FC men’s State League 1 team have finished a difficult season on a high note after an impressive 3-0 win against Dulwich Hill on Sunday at Proctor Park.

With their relegation battle finally won, the Mariners went into a match with no expectations or weight of responsibility for the first time in months. They played accordingly.

Two goals in the space of three minutes mid-way through the second half ensured the Mariners took the points against a visiting team who still harboured an outside chance of making the semi-finals with a win.

Mariners coach Andrew Fearnley was a happy man after the game.

“Our structure was good throughout and for a while defensively, I think we’ve been very solid and we showed that again today,” he said.

“Lately we’ve been making it as hard as possible for other teams to penetrate our defence and that was what we built the win on again today.

“They had most of the ball in the first half but it didn’t really worry us too much, we held them well and looked to counter and that’s how we got the first goal.”

That opening score came in slightly controversial circumstances with half-time approaching.

Having had two potential chances pulled up by questionable offside rulings, the Mariners benefited from one in their favour when Chris New-Tolley was ruled onside despite appearances as he chased a long ball from the back.

The whistle wasn’t forthcoming and New-Tolley sent a good pass to Adam Scimone, who finished perfectly to open the scoring.

The hosts were able to take that lead into the break and despite having less time in attack, they looked like the more confident side.

With their intensity high, the Mariners came out in the second half like a team who were finals bound and pressured their opposition into errors. Soon enough it paid dividends.

Twenty minutes into the half Ricky Guihot managed to finish off after a lapse from Dulwich Hill. Minutes later Scimone had a shot rebound off the goalkeeper and straight into New-Tolley’s path as he extended the lead.

There was no miracle comeback from Dulwich Hill and an upbeat Mariners side took great delight in belting out the team song for the fifth time this season.

“At the start of the second half we felt that if we kept up the intent, we would be able to create a chance and that one goal would break the game open and it did,” Fearnley said.

“John Rimmer at the back was fantastic, Matt Corben as well was excellent and I thought Ricky Guihot showed his experience. He’s not that experienced in overall terms, but compared to most of this team he certainly is.

“It showed today.”

WESTERN NSW MARINERS FC 3 (Adam Scimone, Ricky Guihot, Chris New-Tolley) defeated DULWICH HILL 0