Cummings stars as Mariners down Western

Central Coast Mariners coach Nick Montogomery says striker Jason Cummings is doing "all he can do" to earn a place at the World Cup after excelling in his side's come-from-behind 4-2 win over Western United 4-2.

United rope-a-doped their way to a two-goal halftime lead in Gosford through goals from Nicholas Milanovic and Connor Pain, but a straight red card to defender Nikolai Topor-Stanley for a foul on Garang Kuol early in the second half sparked a dramatic turnaround.

Having had two goals disallowed to that point, Cummings combined with fellow World Cup hopeful Kuol to halve the deficit before helping set up substitutes Beni N'Kololo and Jacob Farrell to make it 3-2

Capping off his day, the Scottish-born Socceroo then cut the ball back to Paul Ayongo for an 88th-minute sealer.

"He (Cummings) is a top-class player. Two chances today, two goals, and one chalked off. A few assists," Montgomery said.

"That's all he can do.

"All Garang can do is what he did when he came on at halftime and make the impact that he always does."

After being kept quiet in the Mariners' loss to Perth Glory the week prior, it was a major boost to Cummings' hopes of earning a place in Graham Arnold's 26-player Socceroos squad in Qatar.

He and Kuol will have one final chance to mount their cases against Western Sydney next week, with the squad expected to be named on November 8.

"Jason last week, he wasn't at the races and he took full responsibility for that," said Montgomery.

"I asked him today just to get back to doing what we do and work hard, goals will come and assists will come."

Despite starting brightly, the Mariners were sucker-punched when, completely against the run of play, two quick forays forward by United led to goals for Milanovic and Pain in the 17th and 28th minutes.

Needing a spark, Montgomery threw Kuol into the fray after the halftime break and the youngster quickly induced a rash challenge from Topor-Stanley that, upon VAR review, was upgraded from a yellow card to a straight red.

Backs to the wall and down to 10, United promptly collapsed as the Mariners came forward with venom and netted four goals inside 21 minutes to secure their first win of the season.

"We were comfortable at 2-0," said United coach John Aloisi.

"The red card changed the game.

"But that doesn't except that we should be more resilient when we go 2-0 up with 10 men."