Green Gully ‘keeper Alastair Bray has won out over NPL Victoria counter-part Chris Oldfield for an A-League berth, after penning a deal with the Central Coast Mariners.
The Corner Flag understands that the club invited both Bray and Hume City’s Oldfield for a trial over the last few days where the latter was favoured by club staff including coach Tony Walmsley.
The Mariners had long been rumoured to have been courting the services of Oldfield who had even featured for the A-League outfit in their pre-season friendly against the Melbourne Victory in a closed door friendly in September.
But it’s the former Bentleigh Green stopper who won out in the end, and he’ll tussle it out with Olyroos goalkeeper Paul Izzo for the number one jersey at the Mariners after the departure of Liam Reddy, who has had his contracted terminated with the club following a series of disciplinary indiscretions.
After making his senior debut in 2012, the then teenager moved to Bentleigh in 2013 with the view of being deputy to the experienced Stuart Webster.
However Bray displaced the veteran in his second season with the club before becoming an instrumental component as the Greens marched onto the FFA Cup Semi-Finals in 2014 and subsequently the NPL premiership in 2015.
It leaves Green Gully with a decision to make once again as Arthur Papas looks for a replacement for the recently signed keeper.
The signing comes days after the club announced the capture of Melbourne Knights captain Tomislav Uskok, who joins the Gosford based outfit for the remainder of the season.