Adelaide United have broken their Gosford hoodoo in grand style, with Archie Goodwin playing a starring role in a crushing 4-0 A-League Men victory over champions Central Coast.
Goodwin scored a first-half goal and was the instrumental figure in setting up Stefan Mauk's second-half tap-in as Adelaide ran riot at Central Coast Stadium on Friday night.
Teenager Panagiotis Kikianis and Yaya Dukuly were also on the scoresheet in the second half as the Reds' unbeaten run to start the season extended to seven matches.
Adelaide now boast five wins and two draws from seven games, with the latest result moving them into second on the ladder and marking their best start to a season in a decade.
The Reds entered Friday night's match having lost their past six matches in Gosford since last winning there in 2019, but they made a mockery of that record with arguably their most dominant display of the season.
"It's a very difficult place to come. I'm very happy with the boys tonight, they worked their socks off from the first whistle to the last whistle," Adelaide coach Carl Veart told Paramount.
"I've been pretty hard on the playing group this year in pre-season and the first six or seven games, because we really believe we can achieve something with this group."
It was a fitting performance on a milestone night for club legend Isaias, who eclipsed Eugene Galekovic on the all-time appearance list for Adelaide with his 239th match.
Little went right on the night for the injury-hit Mariners, who were on a two-match winning streak but looked a shadow of the outfit that won the past two titles.
"Bitterly disappointing performance from us," Mariners coach Mark Jackson said.
"Off the back of such an impressive victory against Sydney, the energy we brought to that game just wasn't there today for whatever reason. I can't put my finger on it.
"We fell massively short tonight."
Goodwin's sheer determination was the catalyst for Adelaide's 12th-minute opener, with the 20-year-old shaking off two opponents in the midfield and dishing off a pass before charging forward.
His run was rewarded, with.Austin Ayoubi delivering a dangerous cross that Goodwin was able to slot home.
A close-range volley from Kikianis made it 2-0 in the 49th minute, and Goodwin's work rate again came to the fore for Adelaide's third in the 60th minute.
Goodwin ran hard to strip an opponent of the ball before skipping past a second defender to launch an attack that eventually led to an easy tap-in for Mauk.
It was party time by the 73rd minute when Dukuly thundered in a shot off the post, leaving the 21-year-old substitute to celebrate the moment with an acrobatic flip.
