The Mariners took a two-goal lead into half-time in warm conditions and appearing in control for most of the game until the Reds scored a late consolation through Travis Dodd.

"The first 45 minutes was champagne football," Arnold said. "It was one touch football, the movement was great, the short passing in midfield, we destroyed them in the first half.

"We knew that Adelaide would come out in the second half and try to give a bit more, they changed their system to a narrow diamond to go with two up front but I thought the boys at the back handled everything well.

"It was a very good performance in those conditions."

Arnold added: "We're actually a little bit upset about conceding the goal because the boys strive to keep a clean sheet every week so to concede in the last 30-45 seconds or whatever it was, they're not happy about it but the mentality of the players, the character and the way they play football is brilliant.

"We knew their front four were extremely strong but I saw things against North Queensland last week - even though they won 8-1 - that gave us a lot of hope. North Queensland had five or six really good chances in that game.

"We wanted to play our own game, we have only lost twice away from home all year and our motto from the start of the year has been to play away from home the same as we would at home, and never to change our style of football. It seems to be working so far."

Mariners defender Patrick Zwaanswijk was equally proud of his teammates.

"Arnie and the staff prepared very well and gave us a lot to work with," he said.

"Everyone on the field knows what we have to do, in defence there are no options, we have to do what is on the whiteboard, but with the ball we can do what we think is best and it works out pretty well.

"If you see the growth from week one to week 25 where we are now, it's unreal, unbelievable."

The Mariners now turn their attention to the second of three away games in a row, against Melbourne Heart on Friday night.

Arnold added: "We can't take the foot off the pedal, because anything can happen with three games to go."

Reds coach Rini Coolen was left to reflect on a number of his charges being unable to repeat the same standard of last week against North Queensland Fury, although he admitted the pressure by the Mariners played a major part in why his team struggled to get going.

"I'm not happy with the result, we can play at a better level, but it's also a credit to the team that we played against today," Coolen said.

"We are good enough to play at a higher level. I think we played better than them in the second half, but coming back from 2-nil and changing something, that's not easy. We tried everything but sometimes you play a game like that, and it was not good enough today to beat the Central Coast."

Coolen dismissed any suggestions that the Reds were not switched on mentally for the match after coming off the back of an 8-1 win over Fury, the Adelaide boss aware that the road now becomes even tougher to finish in second spot.

"We didn't create a lot of chances, but if you score a goal with your pressure at the right time there is still a chance to at least get one point or maybe more, but that goal came too late," Coolen said.

"It's a big loss because we don't have everything in our own hands now to be the number two of the league, but still there a couple of games to go and we will fight until the last game to get that spot back."

Adelaide skipper and goalscorer Dodd admitted the Reds were outplayed in the opening stanza.

"In the start we didn't come out with that same intensity and quick tempo which we played with last week," he said.

"They played well in the first-half, we couldn't hold the ball, couldn't keep possession, turned it over a bit too easy and they punished us with two good goals."

He added: "It opens up a four-point gap now so they're going to be hard to catch with only three games to go, but it's still possible. There's still points available, unfortunately we've got to rely on other results but keep winning ourselves."

About his own future, Dodd added: "I haven't signed with Perth. I had a meeting with Rini and Michael Petrillo, the football director, during the week. We had a good chat, we all know where we're at with negotiations. Hopefully a decision will be made in the next few days.

"To be playing tonight is a sign from myself and the coaching staff that the relationship's okay. As long as I'm just going to keep going and keep playing and chasing that title for the club."