A standout second half from World Cup hopeful Jason Cummings has helped the Central Coast Mariners roar back from a two-goal deficit to down Western United 4-2 in Gosford on Saturday.
Visiting United rope-a-doped their way to a two-goal halftime lead through goals from Nicholas Milanovic and Connor Pain, but a straight red card to United defender Nikolai Topor-Stanley for a foul on Garang Kuol early in the second half sparked a dramatic turnaround in fortunes.
Having had two goals disallowed to that point, Cummings combined with Kuol to make it 2-1 before setting up substitutes Beni N'Kololo and Jacob Farrell to level then put the Mariners ahead respectively.
Capping off his day, the Scottish-born Socceroo then made it a hat-trick of assists when he cut the ball back to Paul Ayongo for an 88th-minute sealer.
After being kept quiet in the Mariners' loss to Perth Glory the week prior, it was a major boost to Cummings' hopes of earning a place in Graham Arnold's 26-player Socceroos squad in Qatar.
He and fellow hopeful Kuol will have one final chance to mount their cases against Western Sydney next week, with the squad expected to be named on November 8.
Despite starting brightly, the Mariners were sucker-punched when, completely against the run of play, two quick forays forward by United led to goals for Milanovic and Pain in the 17th and 28th minutes.
Needing a spark, Mariners boss Nick Montgomery threw Kuol into the fray after the halftime break and the fringe-World Cup Socceroo quickly induced a rash challenge from Topor-Stanley that, upon VAR review, was upgraded from a yellow card to a straight red.
Backs to the wall and down to 10, United promptly collapsed as the Mariners came forward with venom and netted four goals inside 21 minutes to secure their first win of the season.
