The only goal of the game came from the Kosovan on 80 minutes as the Mariners gave Victory a good run for their money.

Berisha claimed 48 goals for former club Brisbane Roar and added another 52 since signing for Victory in 2014, becoming a player the opposition fans love to dislike.

The striker, who received a standing ovation, has also retaken the lead in the Golden Boot race with his 19th goal for the season.

Gallery: Victory v Mariners pic special

The Mariners started the game off well and were in it for the majority of the match with a number of chances squandered by the visitors.

The minnows almost found themselves in the lead in the 17th minute as Victory turned the ball over in midfield, leading to Connor Pain through balling to Roy O’Donovan whose shot was saved by Lawrence Thomas in a one-on-one contest.

A minute later on the other end, Fahid Ben Khalfallah tried his luck for goal of the season, attempting a scissor kick from Marco Rojas’ cross but the ball went wide of Paul Izzo’s goal.

With Victory failing to capitalise on clear-cut chances, their closest moment to scoring came with nine minutes remaining in the first term as James Troisi cut inside the box and a diving save from Izzo kept it out.

Berisha almost claimed his 100th A-League goal two minutes into the second half as Rojas’ cross was across the face of goal, but the striker forgot to make contact with the ball.

Clear-cut chances were still hard to find as another Victory turnover in midfield led to a mix-up with James Donachie and Thomas with Roy O’Donovan almost sneaking through in the one-on-two, but the home side survived a scare.

And then three minutes later Donachie was galloping forward and he fancied a crack at goal, and just missed.

Just on the hour mark Pain skinned the wonderful Leigh Broxham whose cross almost found O’Donovan but the Irishman failed to touch the ball as another chance was wasted.

Victory would finally hit the lead, Mitch Austin and Troisi combined in the lead-up to the goal, Berisha’s first chance was snuffed out but it landed back to Ingham who gave it back to the Kosovan to get his 100th goal.

Troisi managed to hit the post five minutes later as Victory looked to ice the game.

Berisha nearly found his second of the game with three minutes remaining as Ingham’s low cross was poorly dealt with and the strike was saved from point blank range by Izzo.

Victory now look forward to a week off as the Mariners finish their season with a spirited loss to a Championship favourite.

Melbourne Victory: 20. THOMAS Lawrence, 2. GERIA Jason, 6. BROXHAM Leigh, 7. ROJAS Marco (78’ 11. AUSTIN Mitch), 8. BERISHA Besart, 10. TROISI James, 14. BEN KHALFALLAH Fahid (45’ 23. INGHAM Jai), 15. BARO Alan (86’ 4. ANSELL Nick), 16. MAHAZI Rashid, 17. DONACHIE James, 21. VALERI Carl

Central Coast Mariners: 20. IZZO Paul, 2. ROUX Storm, 3. GALLOWAY Scott, 7. FABIO FERREIRA (86’ 27. WALES Lachlan), 8. MONTGOMERY Nick, 9. O’DONOVAN Roy, 11. PAIN Connor (89’ 21. NEILL Michael), 13. APPIAH-KUBI Kwabena (72’ 17. BINGHAM Josh), 14. BERRY Adam, 16. Rose Liam, 22. MCGING Jake

Referee: Jarred Gillett

Attendance: 14827