In sweltering conditions at Adamstown Oval the opening half was all the home team with playmaker Jesse Pinto having a fine opportunity to open the scoring in just the 11th minute.

Pinto was played clean through on goal after a breakaway move initiated by striker Brodie Mooy. Just as it seemed that Pinto would loft the ball over the onrushing Andrew Redmayne, the Mariners’ custodian pulled off a brilliant save to keep the scores level.

Ten minutes later and Mooy himself would hit a shot that would have Redmayne scrambling, when he picked up a loose ball on the edge of the area and hit a curling effort toward goal. The strike, however, went agonisingly wide despite having the ‘keeper beaten.

The dynamic James Virgili then made the breakthrough on 25 minutes when he brought down a delightful Pinto cross only ten yards out from goal. The young winger then composed himself with a touch on the ball before calmly finishing with aplomb, low and into the bottom corner of the net.

Jets’ goalkeeper Ben McNamara was left largely untroubled for much of the first half, but pulled off two top quality saves from Daniel Taylor strikes in the dying moments of the period.

The Mariners came to life in the second stanza though and leveled matters in the first ten minutes of the half through Nigel Boogaard who bobbled home a goalmouth scramble amid a throng of bodies.

Less than ten minutes later and the visitors took a lead that they would hold for the remainder of the match when Hyundai A-League player Matt Osman volleyed home a pinpoint first-time Andrew Clark cross.

The final half hour of the game saw the Jets throw everything at their rivals, but without the crucial finishing touch, which would ultimately leave the home side frustrated in defeat.