Mark Bosnich’s fairytale comeback stint with the
Central Coast Mariners came to a shattering end on Friday night when the
colourful custodian tore his hamstring taking a goalkick in the 4-1
romp of Perth Glory.

The 36-year-old was four A-League games
into a likely five game stint with the Gosford club but lasted only six
minutes before picking up the injury at Bluetongue Stadium, leaving the
former Manchester United and Aston Villa star facing weeks on the
sidelines.

Bosnich’s injury overshadowed an impressive
performance from the Mariners, the goals coming through Sasho
Petrovski, Adrian Caceres, Matthew Osman and a stunning Mile Jedinak
free-kick.

Petrovski got the ball rolling in the ninth minute,
his cheeky dink over Glory ‘keeper Jason Petkovic rebounding off the
left post and straight back into the striker’s path to tap home.

Jedinak
doubled the lead in the 29th minute with a curling effort from about 25
metres, finding the top right hand corner with a genuine piece of class
but was later forced from the field with a nasty gash to the head.

Caceres made it 3-0 shortly before the break, scoring against his former club with a neat finish – his first for the Mariners.

Disappointing
Perth pulled one back in the 63rd minute with a scrappy Nikita
Rukavytsya goal but any hope was short-lived as one minute later Osman
put the result beyond doubt.

Bosnich had been out of the game
since 2002, battling drug use, depression and weight problems, but got
himself back into shape and quickly recaptured some of the form which
once saw him regarded one of the world’s best ‘keepers.

It
remains to be seen whether Bosnich will don the gloves again, but his
age, injury concerns and off-field commitments make it appear unlikely.

A
Mariners team official confirmed the hamstring had been torn and said
the veteran would undergo further scans over the weekend or early next
week.

Bosnich was signed to the Mariners as a replacement player
for regular Mariners No.1 Danny Vukovic, who will return from his ban
for striking a referee in two weeks.

Youth team ‘keeper Andrew Redmayne is set to fill the void for one game.

The
19-year-old made his A-League debut tonight in replacing Bosnich after
completing a full match for the Mariners in the National Youth League
opener.