Coaches and players involved in heated fracas at half-time of Central Coast Mariners’ AFC Cup clash with Odisha

A half-time brawl between coaches and players has overshadowed the Central Coast Mariners’ progression to the AFC Cup inter-zonal final.

Leading 4-0 after a first-leg win in Gosford, the Mariners drew 0-0 in the second leg of their inter-zonal semi-final against Indian club Odisha at Kalinga Stadium on Thursday night.

The 4-0 aggregate win has earnt the Mariners a berth in the inter-zonal final against Kyrgyzstan club Abdysh-Ata Kant, with the two-legged contest to be played next month.

However, the some of the gloss was taken off the Mariners’ achievement on Thursday in India by an ugly incident as coaches and players headed to the dressing-room after the half-time whistle had been blown.

It started when Mariners coach Mark Jackson and his Odisha counterpart Sergio Lobera became involved in a heated verbal exchange which threatened to become physical.

Mariners substitute Christian Theoharous then ran over to get in between the pair and pushed Lobera away.

Players and staff from both clubs then converged on the trio, with Mariners star Angel Torres appearing to thrust his head towards an Odisha player.

After plenty of pushing and shoving, order was eventually restored as players from both teams walked up the same set of stairs as they headed for their dressing-rooms.

A Mariners spokesman, who didn't travel to India, said on Friday that he did not know if any disciplinary action had been taken against either team.

News Corp Australia is awaiting a response from the Asian Football Confederation to questions regarding the incident and whether sanctions would be forthcoming.

Following the match, Jackson said he was “proud” of the way his players dealt with the conditions in Odisha.

“We played against a difficult opponent over two legs,” the Mariners mentor said.

“We are pleased to continue our unbeaten run (in the AFC Cup).

“I am proud of the manner the players have dealt with the conditions here, and got the job done.

“However, we are disappointed with certain elements of our game. We weren’t clinical in the final third, as we were a bit loose with our passing.

“We will go back and analyse ourselves, but our defensive structure was excellent, which pleases me.”

Mariners star Josh Nisbet said: “This was a very challenging game under difficult conditions which we are not quite used to.

“Unfortunately, today we weren’t able to score. Add to that all the travel involved, we are pleased to progress.”

Odisha coach Lobera was also “proud” of his players.

“They (the Mariners) are an amazing team, and we competed well against them,” Lobera said.

“My players were mentally strong, and displayed great character on the pitch.”