"We always believe in ourselves, " he said. "Nobody ever believes in us so it doesn't make any difference to us.  But I don't think anybody will be able to say we're the long ball and direct team after (the win) cause obviously we kept the ball very well and we frustrated The Gold Coast.  It was nice to be actually knocking the ball about and playing football - unless I was watching a different game."

McKinna dismissed the suggestion that Smeltz's second half red card had any impact on Saturday night's result. 

"Whether Smeltz was sent off or not we would have won the game and we deserved to win. We scored three goals, but from the beginning of the game defensively we never gave them a look in.  I think Danny had one save" he said.

"The defensive shape was good and we nullified Smeltz and Culina.  When we got the ball we kept the ball and the movement off the ball was great.  Last week we didn't create a lot, today we did." 

The Central Coast coach added that it was one of his team's best performances this year.

"Over 90 minutes it was the most consistent performance we've had this season.  We created chances and believed in each other instead of being negative.  The two boys led the line well, the four boys in midfield were outstanding and the boys in the back were solid.  Overall it was very pleasing," he said.

McKinna also gave credit to his new recruits all of whom had made significant contributions to a memorable performance, including Nicky Travis's first goal in the A-League.  

"Having McGlinchey and Doig available all of a sudden there was a bit of depth there.  Doig was outstanding, McGlinchey came in and he was everywhere.  He started a lot of the attack, he changed wings. Matt Crowell will hopefully be available next week to add some more depth again.  You couldn't pick the best man in our team tonight because everybody stood up, it was a great team performance," said McKinna.

Dean Heffernan agreed with his coach that the Mariners played well and gave Gold Coast no chances. 

"It wasn't so much about their performance as about our performance. It was very positive, everyone looked like they were enjoying themselves as well as muscling up.  When The Mariners do that we're hard to beat, especially at home," the defender added.