Sydney FC’s A-League Men grand final hopes are hanging by a thread after Jack Rodwell and Corey Hollman were sent off in a 2-1 semi-final loss to the Central Coast Mariners. Sydney were forced to play the last 10 minutes of Friday’s first leg at Allianz Stadium with nine men, and they will be without Rodwell and Hollman for the second leg in Gosford next Saturday. Rodwell was dismissed after a studs-up challenge on Mariners flyer Christian Theoharous midway through the second half, while Hollman was shown a second yellow in the 82nd minute. Adding to coach Ufuk Talay’s woes are concerns over dependable Jake Girdwood-Reich, who limped off early in the first half with a quad injury. Left-back Joel King got Sydney off to a fine start before a well-taken finish from newly capped Soccerroo Josh Nisbet and a Mikael Doka penalty gave the Mariners the lead in the two-legged tie. Sydney’s weakened squad coupled with home ground advantage for Central Coast in the second leg should work in the Mariners’ favour, and keep the flame burning for a remarkable treble after they added the AFC Cup earlier this week to the A-League premiers’ plate they secured on 1 May. The Mariners showed little sign of rust from their Asian exploits despite Sydney taking the early lead. Max Burgess was thrown into the fray after Girdwood-Reich went off and the mercurial playmaker had an immediate impact. A cross from the right flank made its way to King, who tucked the ball in from close range to give Sydney a 25th-minute lead. Burgess nearly made it 2-0 before the half-time break but he could only hook his shot wide of Danny Vukovic’s post. The Mariners showed no such wastefulness as they burst down field in the final minute of first-half added time and Brazilian winger Doka unleashed a long-range shot. The dip meant Andrew Redmayne was unable to cleanly gather the ball and a quick-witted Nisbet snuck in to draw the Mariners level. It didn’t take long for Central Coast to take the lead after the break. Anthony Caceres brought Theoharous down inside the Sydney box and the Mariners were handed a 56th-minute penalty. Redmayne attempted his customary Wiggles-inspired routine but Doka was unfazed and fired home. Sydney were beginning to lose their grip on the tie and Rodwell’s sending-off did little to help their cause. It was only the second time in the Englishman’s career he had been shown a straight red card. Despite the Mariners’ numerical advantage, Sydney kept pushing for an equaliser and they thought they had one when Rhyan Grant headed home in the final quarter of an hour. But referee Ben Abraham indicated Brazilian centre-back Gabriel Lacerda was offside, much to the dismay of Talay. Hollman’s second yellow only added to Talay’s misery and Sydney now face an uphill battle to halt the Mariners’ charge to a second-straight grand final.