Adam Kwasnik scored the game's only goal on 75 minutes to clinch Central Coast's Grand Final place against Brisbane Roar next weekend.

“I’m blown away,” Arnold said. “I have to say that over the 90 minutes we deserved to win tonight.

“We were a bit sloppy at times, and tried to go through the middle too much and we tried to correct that at half-time.”

Arnold added he always felt his team could produce something special in the 2010/2011 season.

“We’ve had this belief, and I’ve had the belief from the start of the season when people tipped us to come in ninth that we had the ability to do something special this year,” he said.

Arnold added: “Our senior players did a great job tonight, but we had two 18-year-olds, and a 17-year-old out on the pitch, and they stood up and did everything asked of them.

“Nothing fazes them. I’m very happy with the way we played.

“The belief amongst this group of players is unbelievable. The atmosphere at training on Tuesday was fantastic.”

Captain Alex Wilkinson was a composed figure in defence for the Mariners on Saturday night and he was delighted with the team's ability to fulfill their belief and achieve something this season.

“It was a great effort by the boys tonight. This is what we’ve been working towards for 10 months now,” Wilkinson said.

“From the start of the season the belief was always there that we had a good side. To qualify for the Grand Final and for Asia is absolutely massive for the club.

“It could’ve easily been one of those nights where it wasn’t going to drop in for us, but full credit to Kwas, it was a great finish.

“Even though we were sloppy, and passes were going astray we still had the belief that we could win games, and that’s a credit to the spirit in the squad.

“We’re really looking forward to next week.”