Champion Central Coast live to fight another day despite hefty home loss Lofty heights: Nick Montgomery of the Mariners contests a header with Kurisawa Ryoichi of Kashiwa. The history keeps coming for the Central Coast Mariners, who booked their place in the knockout stages of the Asian Champions League on Tuesday night despite losing 3-0 to Kashiwa Reysol at Bluetongue Stadium. However, it was a result 8000 kilometres away in the Chinese city of Guiyang, where Korean side Suwon Bluewings grimly held to a 2-2 draw with Guizhou Renhe that allowed the Mariners to advance. It's the first time in three attempts Central Coast have qualified for the knockout stages, where they are likely to face one of the richest sides in the world, emerging Chinese giants Guangzhou Evergande. Contesting the ball: Patrick Zwaanswijk of the Mariners and Cleverson Gabriel Cordova of Kashiwa. The Mariners now join Adelaide and Newcastle as the only Australian teams to have qualified for the tournament's knockout stages. "We're the smallest club in Australia, the smallest club in Asia, a wonderful achievement," said coach Graham Arnold said after the game "We're thankful to Suwon to helping us and now we've got a great occasion ahead of us." Arnold was able to call upon his preferred starting side after resting several players in the 1-0 win over Suwon last week, re-uniting Nick Montgomery and John Hutchinson in central midfield. However, knowing that the Japanese side were like to deploy a 4-2-2-2 setup, Arnold decided to mimic this early in the first half, pushing Daniel McBreen up to join Mile Sterjovski in attack. With Kashiwa surprising everybody by bringing a full-strength side to Australia given their commitments in the J-League, and that they'd already qualified for the knockout stages, they were clearly keen to make an impact. All their creative energy was sourced from thre Brazilians - Cleo, Leandro Domingues and Jorge Wagner, even if the latter of that trio appeared to be carrying some extra condition. But the Mariners were the team making most of the running early and looked the most likely to score. Half-chances were springing up consistently springing up for home side but they couldn't put any of them away, and Kashiwa goalkeeper Naoya Kondo wasn't required to perform any heroics. There was one moment of controversy when a searing long ball from Pedj Bojic sent Michael McGlinchey clear on goal, only for his run to be impeded by Kim Chang-Soo. Uzbek referee Valentin Kovalenko reached for the yellow card but it could easily have been a red. Though McBreen seemed to limp into the half-time break - he was suffering from illness before the game - it was his shot that nearly sent the home side ahead two minutes after the break, only for the drive to be cleared off the line by Chang-Soo. Another attempt from Josh Rose after a mazy run down the left again raised hopes but his tame effort eventually went straight at the keeper. Yet just as the 7623-strong crowd sensed an opener for the Mariners, they would soon be caught unawares. Kashiwa patiently stroked the ball on the hour mark as they waited for a chance to break the Mariners" tightly-knit midfield and eventually they found an opening. A delightfully weighted through ball from Ryoichi Kurisawa found Masato Kudo, who took his chance well to curl the ball around Matt Ryan's fingertips. That seemed to inspire the Japanese, who then took control of the contest. With 12 minutes to play, the visitors doubled their advantage when Patrick Zwaanswijk and Josh Rose failed to deal with a high, incoming ball, allowing Cleo a simple finish. Two minutes later, Leandro hammered the final nail in the coffin with a superb free kick that Ryan reached but couldn't keep out. However news quickly filtered around the stadium of the score in Guiyang, where the match was locked at 2-2, leaving local fans glues to their phones for updates. Just as has been the Mariners luck of late, Suwon held on for a draw, allowing Central Coast's dream season to keep going for another month yet.