It was a largely quiet debut for John Aloisi though as the Gosford outfit suffered only its second defeat of the campaign.

Michael Bridges enjoyed a far more impressive first outing in the Hyundai A-League and worked tirelessly for the side.

It was a more familiar figure who enjoyed the scoring accolades for the home side though with Alex Brosque scoring twice before spurning the chance of a hat-trick with a penalty miss.

Tony Popovic was Sydney’s other scorer, a diving header his first goal for the club.

Mariners’ John Hutchinson scored two goals worthy of winning any game but on this occasion his double was not enough to prise a point from the contest.

Speaking after the game new boy Bridges warned the rest of the A-League that his new team is on the march.

He said: “It was fantastic and the support of the crowd was liking having 12 men out there.

"The boys have put a performance in and shown the league what it’s about. Watch out because Sydney’s on the up.”

The ‘two Johns’ were both on show with Sydney FC’s Kosmina taking charge for the first time while Central Coast’s Aloisi made his Hyundai A-League bow.

There was also a first taste of Australian football for English striker Bridges.

Ruben Zadkovich returned to the starting line up following suspension with Mark Milligan also deemed fit enough to play. Patrick’s injury ruled him out of the equation.

Lawrie McKinna stuck with a 4-4-2 system with new boy Aloisi lining up in attack alongside former Sydney favourite Sasho Petrovski as the Mariners looked for a second win this season in the harbour city.

Alex Brosque almost wriggled clear of the visiting defence in the fifth minute but couldn’t find the power in his shot to trouble Danny Vukovic.

Moments later Juninho pushed forward, shrugged off a couple of challenges and slashed an angled drive just wide of the left post as Kosmina’s men got off to a bright start.

Robbie Middleby surged forward following a Mariners attack, cut in from the right but saw his effort blocked on the edge of the area. Juninho warmed Vukovic’s palms on nine minutes as Sydney continued to look by far the brighter side.

Juninho and Bridges were linking up well with the former almost threading a wonderful ball through to the latter, only a Mariners leg preventing a shot on goal.

Corica then found the back of the net via the left post on 11 minutes but the celebrations were cut very short by an offside flag.

Sydney’s energetic start produced the goal it deserved on 16 minutes.

Bridges took a quick throw in to Juninho, he slotted a wonderful pass through to Corica and the experienced player angled his shot across Vukovic and against the right post.

Alex Brosque was quickest to react and Sydney’s leading scorer slammed the rebound into the back of the net.

The Mariners responded and Aloisi was a whisker away from connecting at the far post from Mile Jedinak’s low driven cross from the right, a warning to Sydney that they needed to remain alert despite their dominance.

Petrovski skipped past a couple of challenges before the ball was whipped off his toes inside the area as the Mariners attempted to stem the blue tide and fight their way back into the contest.

Aloisi rose to meet a Greg Owens cross on 22 and although he got between Iain Fyfe and Middleby he only succeeded in directing a header wide of the left post. Worryingly for the visitors he rose grimacing and clutching his ribs.

Brosque struck again on 26 thanks to a marvellous defence-splitting ball from skipper Tony Popovic. Brosque let the ball run across him and crashed a left foot shot past Vukovic, his fifth goal in five matches for Sydney.

Two-nil and game over? Not on your life. Straight from the kick off the Mariners pushed forward, Tom Pondeljak played the ball to his right and there was John Hutchinson to thunder a shot past Clint Bolton via the underside of the crossbar from the edge of the box.

It was the player’s first goal of the campaign and the Mariners’ 100th goal in Hyundai A-League history.

On 32 minutes back came the home side. Juninho whipped over a corner from the right and Popovic flung himself forward to plant a diving header into the left hand corner of the net, the skipper’s first goal for the men in blue.

The set piece had been earned by the hard-working Bridges who was holding the ball up superbly and creating space and opportunities for his colleagues.

A rejuvenated Sydney roared forward again and shortly after Jedinak had stuck out a leg to thwart Juninho, Vukovic had to get down smartly to hold on to Brosque’s angled strike from the right edge of the area.

The home side banished the ghost of the side that had struggled so badly on its own turf before this fixture and if there was a 50-50 ball to be won it was generally a man in blue who came out on top.

Pondeljak lofted a free-kick towards the far post on 41 but there was too much pace on the ball for Nigel Boogaard to get any meaningful contact.

Gumprecht rifled goalwards two minutes later but his sliced strike from the edge of the box was comfortably held by Bolton.

Dean Heffernan then hammered a free-kick into the Sydney wall following a foul by Fyfe as McKinna’s men looked to reduce the deficit before the interval.

There was no further scoring and as the teams trooped off the home fans rose to applaud an impressive first 45 minutes by their heroes.

The Cove certainly seemed happy enough with life under Kossie, chanting that the new coach could keep the job.

Juninho blazed over from the edge of the box in the opening moments of the second half while Hutchinson earned the first yellow card of the match after a trip on Middleby.

Heffernan hauled down Bridges on 54 with a needless challenge and referee Mark Shield had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. It handed Brosque the chance for the hat-trick and although the striker sent Vukovic the wrong way the ball thudded back off the left post.

It was a costly miss as the Mariners pushed forward, Gumprecht rolled the ball across the face of the area and Hutchinson sent his second belter of the game screaming past Bolton into the back of the net.

Seemingly dead and buried as Brosque stepped up to take his penalty, the Mariners found themselves right back in the contest.

With their spirits duly raised, McKinna’s men pressed for a leveller with Greg Owens cutting in from the right only to drag his shot wide of the right post from 20 metres as the hour mark approached.

Boogaard headed wide from a corner on 62 before Tony Vidmar became the fourth Mariners player of the afternoon to booked after a lazy challenge on Brosque.

Fyfe made a magnificent block to deflect Pondeljak’s goalbound strike on 65 before Heffernan blazed over the crossbar moments later.

Bridges lifted the ball past Vukovic on 67 but his shot rolled the wrong side of the left post.

Bolton then got down smartly at the base of his left post two minutes later to hold on to a Petrovski strike as the Mariners enjoyed a good spell.

Sydney made the first change on 71 with Nikolas Tsattalios replacing Middleby. Juninho fired in an effort easily held by Vukovic while Gumprecht tried his luck from a difficult angle at the other end.

Matt Simon entered the fray at Gumprecht’s expense as the visitors added another striker to the mix with 12 minutes remaining.

Brendon Santalab replaced Zadkovich with Aloisi flashing a shot cum cross past the far post as the Sydney fans roared ‘what a waste of money’. The Mariners man took it in good spirits and just smiled.

Play switched to the other end and Brosque teed up Bridges for a low drive which Vukovic pushed away at the base of the right post. That was Bridges' final contribution of an impressive debut and he thoroughly deserved the standing ovation that greeted his substitution.

Bolton was booked for time-wasting as Sydney looked to cling on to all three points with the keeper then clattering into Matt Simon as he punched clear a cross.

The fourth official’s board showed four additional minutes as the bulk of a 17,652 crowd crossed its fingers and tried to help their team across the finishing line.

The final action of the match saw Vukovic race up for a Mariners free-kick, the ball was cleared and substitute David Zdrillic took advantage to fire goalwards.

Fortunately for the Mariners Pondeljak raced back to clear off the line and prevent Sydney putting the icing on the cake.

That was the last action of the match, cracking stuff, perfect start for Kossie and Sydney fans will be hoping their troubled season starts here.

As for the Mariners, two-goal midfielder Hutchinson was gracious in defeat.

“I’d rather have three points than the two goals," he said. "We definitely had our chances and on another day might have taken them today wasn’t our day. Congratulations to Sydney.”