Another strike from teen sensation Garang Kuol has helped secure Central Coast an A-League Men's final berth with a 2-0 win over struggling Brisbane Roar.
Kuol came off the bench to score his fourth goal in seven ALM appearances after Lewis Miller opened the scoring for the visitors at Moreton Daily Stadium on Tuesday night.
The win, Central Coast's fourth in a row, locks in their finals spot ahead of this weekend's final home-and-away fixture against local rivals Newcastle.
Defeat for second-last Brisbane extends their winless run to six matches ahead of their season finale against Sydney FC next Tuesday.
The Roar started the brighter of the teams but it wasn't until the 33rd minute that the first shot on target was recorded, a curling effort from Alex Parsons forcing impressive Mariners' goalkeeper Mark Birighitti into a diving save.
But just as the Roar were looking to make their dominance count they fell behind.
Cy Goddard's turn and cross from the left found an unmarked Miller at the far post in the 40th minute and he headed past Jordan Holmes for his first ALM goal.
Brisbane turned to their bench at half-time, bringing on attacking duo Luke Ivanovic and Nikola Mileusnic.
The Roar nearly equalised in the 57th minute but Birighitti again denied the home team, saving sharply to deny Jesse Daley from close range before Ivanovic's follow-up was blocked.
Introduced in the 59th minute, 17-year-old Kuol took just four minutes to make his mark and seal the points for the Mariners.
The visitors suffered a setback in the 78th minute when defender Dan Hall limped off with a knee injury, reducing the Mariners to 10 men given they had used all of their substitutes.
Brisbane, however, were also down to 10 players just eight minutes later when Scott Neville was shown red for a challenge on Nicolai Muller, referee Tim Danaskos upgrading his original yellow card decision after a VAR review.
