90 min: Fitzgerald! Ooh! So close to a late leveller, but Redmayne pulls out a save straight from the top drawer to deny him!

89 min: That’s a lovely turn by Shabow, but his final ball towards Pepper hasn’t got enough legs on it and what promised to be a dangerous move breaks down.

88 min: Caceres floats in a dangerous ball but Redmayne rises, salmon-like, to pluck the ball from the air, and the Wanderers can breathe again.

87 min: Bingham gets his first touch, but he’ll have to do better than that if the Mariners are to salvage something from this one.

85 min: Some of the players look tired out there now. Topor-Stanley just walks out of defence with the ball at his feet and before too long McGing is replaced by Bingham.

84 min: Oh dear, replays show O’Donovan follows through on Redmayne with a little stamp on the keeper’s leg. No one is too outraged though, and the referee takes no action.

82 min: Romeo Castelen is brought off, ending his hopes of finally finding the net today. Young Socceroo Mario Shabow comes on to make his debut in the Dutchman’s place.

81 min: Oh! This could so easily end differently. The ball falls very kindly for Sim, but his shot is blocked and he can’t get any decent purchase on the follow up. Still, the Wanderers cannot afford to switch off here.

80 min: Ten minutes remaining and those Wanderers fans remaining perform the Poznan, but it looks a bit rubbish with large swathes of empty seats, following the walkout.

78 min: The Mariners aren’t giving up on this just yet, a spirit personified by O’Donovan who charges down a Redmayne kick. Luckily for the keeper, it goes behind for a goal kick, but it could easily have been a disaster for the Wanderers.

76 min: Topor-Stanley gives the old “who, me?” shrug at the referee after cynically stopping Fitzgerald in his tracks. His attempt at innocence doesn’t wash and he’s rightly booked.

73 min: Castelen has been excellent, but it’s just not looking like being his day in front of goal. Pepper comes on for Dimas.

72 min: Castelen! Still no end result for the Dutchman, despite another scintillating run! He hammers a shot goalwards, but it’s straight at Izzo, who stands firm to repel the effort. Santalab’s attempted bicycle kick on the rebound is comically bad.

70 min: Montgomery puts in a tired, clumsy challenge and he’s rewarded with a slice of American cheese.

69 min: Another substitution for the Mariners – Sim on for Neil.

68 min: Jamieson wins a free-kick near the corner flag and his whipped ball to the back stick subsequently finds Topor-Stanley, but his header doesn’t trouble Redmayne.

67 min: The Mariners have it all to do now, which is a shame given their play up until that point this second half.

65 min: There’s no doubt that Castelen is an exciting player, but his finishing clearly has to improve. That was shocking.

64 min: What a chance! Surely Castelen should score but the Dutchman makes a total hash of it, ballooning his effort off target, having been played clean through on goal by Jamieson.

62 min: The Mariners make a change as Heffernan is replaced by Liam Rose. O’Donovan now will plough a lone furrow up front on his own.

61 min: But here are the Wanderers, with a number of players passing up the chance to shoot before Castelen accepts the challenge. His effort is deflected behind for a corner.

60 min: An hour gone and it’s still goalless in Gosford. Which sounds like it should be the name of a film or something. But it’s the Mariners who are on the up and threatening to break the deadlock.

58 min: Another moment of excitement for the home crowd as Caceres lets fly with a speculative shot from distance. It takes a deflection which for a moment looks like fooling Redmayne, but the keeper is equal to it in the end.

57 min: Vidosic has a problem here. He doesn’t look to happy as he hobbles off, and is replaced by Brendon Santalab. That could be a hammy.

54 min: Oooh! Best move of the day by the Mariners! It comes down their left-hand side, through Rose and Caceres, who link up well before the ball gets played all the way across to Roux who in turn plays it back across the face of goal, but Roux can’t get there and the chance goes begging.

52 min: “Dispy-doodle”. Discuss. To me, it looked like a classic drop of the shoulder. But I’ll take dispy-doodle.

51 min: Castelen breaks through once again (with what Andy Harper calls a “beautiful dispy-doodle”) but his final square ball towards the unmarked Vidosic in the middle comes a touch too late the Mariners defence are able to get back and block it.

50 min: Oh dear. That’s poor from Dimas, who opts to go for goal himself instead of getting the ball into the Mariners’ box. It’s an unwise decision, and the ball floats harmlessly over the frame of Izzo’s goal.

49 min: McGing feels aggrieved as the whistle sounds for a late-ish challenge on Nichols. And here’s a chance for the Wanderers to get the ball into the box.

48 min: Half a chance for the Mariners! Montgomery gets to the byline before cutting the ball back to Rose, who meets it first time, but it’s straight at Redmayne, who makes the save.

47 min: That opening period was entertaining enough, but still it’s scoreless and we’re heading for an unlikely goalless stalemate unless something changes.

43 min: You can’t help but get the feeling that Castelen, who has been dangerous all half, has become a target for the home defenders. And as long as the referee refuses to act, they’ll continue to employ those tactics.

42 min: Oh dear, Poscoliero is a bit naughty here as he elbows Castelen to stop the flying Dutchman in his tracks. Amazingly, the referee, who blows up for a foul, keeps his cards close to his chest.

40 min: Caceres! It’s a decent snap shot from the Mariners man to test Redmayne, who gets down well to make the save.

39 min: Wanderers have dominated this game and the pass completion stats back that view up – the visitors are bossing it 155-55 so far.

37 min: Topor-Stanley (what’s he doing there?) pops up in the Mariners’ box to get on the end of a scintillating Wanderers’ passing move, but the defender can’t direct his header on target!

36 min: No surprises, but it’s gone quiet (well, at least as quiet as a normal Mariners home game) out there now.

34 min: Castelen turns inside McGing before letting fly from distance. He doesn’t catch it too badly this time, but his effort whizzes well over the bar.

31 min: They’re still filing out, and all of a sudden there are quite a few blocks of grey seats on show. Meanwhile, the Mariners fans have unfurled some banners in the home end:

Sitting in silence
Like the FFA
No fans=no football

A rather more unsavoury effort is displayed in the stand housing the Wanderers fans.

29 min: Andreu sets his sights from just outside the box and lets fly but he doesn’t catch it properly and it strikes a yellow shirt.

28 min: Wanderers fans’ noise levels are still high but that’s about to end. At least it is inside the ground.

27 min: Neill fouls Castelen once again, and surely the Mariners defender is treading a fine line.

25 min: The ball bobbles off Castelen’s shin, but it falls kindly for him and he somehow makes it look like he intended it. Not every player can do that.

24 min: Another Wanderers is headed clear of danger by Poscoliero and the stalemate remains. Six minutes until the Wanderers fans’ walkout.

23 min: The Fox Sports commentary team have resorted to making sauce-related puns now, although surely that’s not a reflection on the game, which so far has provided plenty of entertainment, as promised.

21 min: Montgomery, sporting a terrible moustache by the way, lets fly from distance, but his effort bounces wide of intended target.

20 min: That excitement is short-lived though and nothing comes of the corner.

19 min: Chance for the Mariners as O’Donovan nearly gets on the end of Rose’s low cross into the box! It’s scrambled behind for a corner, giving the home fans something to get excited about.

17 min: Castelen gets absolutely clattered from behind by Neill, who somehow escapes a card the same colour as his kit. He’s a lucky boy, especially considering his earlier lunge.

16 min: Plenty going on early on in Gosford, most of it coming in the Wanderers’ attacking third. The Mariners haven’t settled into the game at all well yet.

15 min: Oh dear, Castelen is presented with a great chance to open the scoring, but he fluffs his lines as he bears down on goal, a heavy touch giving Izzo the chance to hare off his line and make a decisive tackle.

14 min: Mull it over they do, and they decided to have a crack on goal, but it’s poor and the wall does its job well enough.

13 min: Now Neill gives away a free-kick for what appears to be a two-footed lunge on Nichols, and the Wanderers can mull over a strike at goal from about 25 yards out.

12 min: Nothing comes of the corner for the Wanderers, but it’s the visitors who are enjoying the better of the opening exchanges.

11 min: Castelen is looking good on his first start since the Sydney derby. Here he turns his match beautifully and the Wanderers go on to win their first corner of the game.

10 min: Off the post! Castelen strikes the upright having burst onto a pass through. Izzo was beaten at his near post then, but the woodwork comes to the Mariners’ rescue!

9 min: As expected, the Mariners are pressing high up the field, but we all know what that means – holes at the back.

8 min: Nichols sticks the ball away right into the top corner but the flag is up on the far side as Castelen played the ball through. It’s the right decision – Nichols was a mile off.

7 min: The Wanderers fans are really making themselves seen and heard early on. No surprises there, I suppose, but it means that they’ll be even more missed when they do pop out.

5 min: Judging by what I can see on the screen, there may well be enough Wanderers fans in the ground today to match Victory’s 1,000 walkouts yesterday. Not that all of them will want to walk out...

4 min: Here’s a lovely piece of skill from Storm Roux, to get out of trouble on the Mariners right hand side, as the Wanderers fans on the far side make themselves heard.

3 min: Interesting start to the game, as news filters through about Bridge’s problem – he’s got a tight hammy, according to Simon Hill.

2 min: Ooh! So close to the opener with not even two minutes on the clock! Izzo is caught well off his line as the ball falls to Nichols... he goes for goal but his effort curls inches wide of the post with the goal gaping!

2 min: Some late team news – Mark Bridge hasn’t made it out onto the pitch for some as yet unknown reason. Dario Vidosic has been promoted into the starting XI in his place.

Today’s referee is Alan Milliner, and he’ll be assisted by Anton Shchetinin and James Tesorierio. The fourth official is Strebre Delovski. Let’s hope they don’t incur the wrath of either coach today – unlike Chris Beath, whose performance on Thursday prompted a furious Graham Arnold and Sydney FC to write a letter to FFA requesting that Beath never officiates one of their games again. Surprising.

We’re nearly at kick-off. The sun is out in Gosford (26 degrees), and the players are on their way. The Mariners are in all yellow for the occasion, the Wanderers in their usual red and black.

A couple of pre-match stats to digest:

• Just 15 goals have been scored in 11 meetings between these two sides.
  
• The Wanderers have not conceded in any of their previous victories over the Mariners

It’s been a poor start to the day for the Wanderers, with their women’s team going down 4-1 to Canberra United in the W-League in the early kick-off at Central Coast Stadium.

In the fallout from the brouhaha this week, Wanderers supporters will today stage a mid-game walkout, mirroring the action taken by Victory fans last night, when around 1,000 fans staged a protest at Etihad and while it’s unlikely as many Wanderers fans will do likewise in Gosford today, the message is clear that fans are increasingly becoming disillusioned with how they are being treated in this country.

Other clubs’ home support have unfurled banners regarding the matter this round, so it’ll be interesting to see what the Western Sydney fans have brought with them today. It’s probably safe to assume that there won’t be any protest from Mariners fans, who weren’t too seriously implicated with the publishing of the leaked banned list (there was just one, from memory).

Mike will be here shortly. In the meantime, here’s what happened during Melbourne Victory’s win against Adelaide United last night: