The story of the 45thedition of the F3 Derby is best summed up by the two sets of fans at full-time this afternoon.

At the sauce-bottle end, the numerous bays of travelling Jets fans were celebrating like they had won the Grand Final, while at the brass-band end, the Mariners fans held up a banner reading ‘303 days since last win'.

That number is now 304.

A sleepy first-half at Central Coast Stadium ended with a bang as both teams gathered for a derby style push-and-shove, with Connor Pain and Ronnie Vargas the centre of attention.

But it was the Jets who had the last laugh, as they piled on two second half goals to nail an important come-from-behind win and heap the pressure on Mariners boss Mike Mulvey.

After nine games, CCM remain firmly routed to the bottom of the table, with just two points, joined by Mulvey’s former side Brisbane Roar, who sit on just six points.

Central Coast Mariners

Adam Pearce- 6

Saved a decent Petratos free kick in the 26thminute but conceded a very poor goal from Hoffman’s header. Not at fault for Vargas’s beautiful finish late on.

Matt Millar- 7

Hugely involved early and provided a fantastic assist for the opening goal. One of the Mariners' better players on the day.

Antony Golec- 6

Intercepted some incisive passes but failed to lay a single tackle all day. Not good enough, especially in a derby.

Kye Rowles- 6

Made some important tackles but gave the ball away countless times with inaccurate passes. Was caught ball-watching as Vargas peeled off behind and scored the winner.

Jack Clisby- 5

A persistently ineffective player, lost 6 out of his 8 defensive duels. Mariners would do well to sign another half-back in January.

Andrew Hoole- 6

Suffered as a result of the Mariners' ineptitude in attack. Will be disappointed by his impact against his former-side.

Michael McGlinchey- 6

Anonymous all game. Failed to inspire the Mariners into any attacking rhythm. Would be looking over at the Nix’s fortunes with envy.

Aiden O’Neill- 6

Fairly ineffective all game. Came off late with a bad-looking shoulder injury, leaving CCM to see out the game with 10-men.

Mario Shabow- 7

Very positive on the ball but really doesn’t have much to aim for with Matt Simon the target man. Took three shots, one of which was on target. Not great numbers but still far better than his teammates.

Matt Simon- 6

Fantastic pass-and-move with Matt Millar for opening goal but did not have a major impact on the match apart from his goal. CCM midfielders unable to provide anything of quality for the lumbering forward.

Connor Pain- 6

Had a huge chance to seal the game in the second half and unleashed a tame effort at Glen Moss, a huge moment in the match. Only passed the ball 16 times, the lowest of all CCM players.

Subs

Jordan Murray- 7

Replaced Mario Shabow in the aftermath of Hoffman’s equalizer. Showed good pace against a tiring Daniel Georgievski.

Brad McDonald- 6

Replaced Connor Pain in the 73rdminute.

Newcastle Jets

Glen Moss- 7

Quiet first half and not at fault for the opening goal. Saved Pain’s one-on-one in the 63rd minute. Fairly untested in the second half as well.

Daniel Georgievski- 8

A great defensive display. Was involved in 12 defensive duels with a success rate of 100%.

Nikolai Topor-Stanley- 8

Strong defending. Like Georgievski, won 100% of his defensive duels.

Nigel Boogard- 7

Unable to track Matt Simon for the opening goal. Played a solid game thereafter including some important tackles as the Mariners sporadically counter-attacked.

Jason Hoffman- 8

Scored the equalizer from Dimi’s well-weighted corner. Made good overlapping runs but lacks certain attacking qualities.

Turned the ball over badly to Connor Pain who fluffed his lines in the second half, a game-changing moment.

Ben Kantarovski- 6

Screened the backline well but let himself down through some poor passing in attack. Created no chances all game, despite making 35 passes.

Steven Ugarkovic- 7

Similar to Kantarovski, however Ugarkovic at least created one chance. An unbelievably uncreative midfield pairing.

Dimi Petratos- 8

Played well and showed fairly good delivery from set pieces. Was unable to find himself in positions to threaten the Mariners' keeper. Grabbed an assist for the Jets’ equaliser.

Ronald Vargas- 8.5

Looked determined to get himself sent off as tensions boiled over at the end of the first half. Scored the winner in the 82ndminute, sending the travelling fans into raptures.

Jair- 7

Spurned a big chance from Petratos’ corner on the 26th minute and had another header fly inches over the bar. A little selfish at times and comically ‘pulled a Jamieson’ and put a good opportunity out for a throw-in.

Roy O’Donovan- 7

Hardly involved in his first game of the season. May take a few weeks for Roy to get in to some form. Only had two shots all game and neither were on target.

Subs

Kaine Sheppard- 8

Replaced Jair in the 73rd minute. Thought he had scored the winner in the 80th minute but was correctly ruled offside. Provided a fantastic assist for Vargas to score the winner. A high-impact substitute by Merrick.

Matt Ridenton- N/A

Replaced O’Donovan in the 85th minute.

Angus Thurgate- N/A

Replaced Vargas in the 90th minute.