Mariners' rise continues with NYE win over Glory

In his last game in Gosford before joining Japanese club Kyoto Sanga, Marco Tulio nailed two goals from spot kicks that were awarded for hand-balls in the area by Glory captain Mark Beevers.

Having been down 3-1 at the break, Perth took it to the Mariners in a more evenly-paced second half and only appeared out of the contest after the second of those Tulio goals in stoppage time.

Perth were reduced to nine men for the final exchanges on Sunday after Beevers and Aleksandar Susnjar received their second yellow cards, the former for his last hand-ball and the latter for dissent.

The Mariners' first come-from-behind win of the season means they will finish the weekend in sixth place as Perth struggle in second-last with two wins from 10 starts.

It was the visitors who struck first when John Koutroumbis crossed from a sharp angle on the right wing and found Adam Taggart, who silenced the 15,073-strong crowd.

In-form defender Jacob Farrell found an equaliser 10 minutes later, breaking free of Perth's Luke Ivanovic to make good on a Josh Nisbet pass down the left wing midway through the first half.

Farrell continued to be involved in everything for the Mariners as Perth struggled for any significant chances with which to follow their goal. 

Central Coast had no such issues, scoring twice in the 10 minutes before the break.

Alou Kuol's goal stood despite Perth's frustrations at a heavy challenge from Mariners defender Storm Roux on Salim Khelifi in the lead-up.

Tulio nailed his first goal in first half injury time after referee Jack Morgan ruled Beevers' hand had extended at an unnatural angle to block what would have been a goal.

It was a verdict handed down again in the dying minutes of the game.

Five minutes after the break, Perth's Stefan Colakovski skipped past Brian Kaltak for a goal that kept the Mariners on their toes for the rest of the game.

But no more goals came for the visitors as the Mariners farewelled 2023 in style.