Joel Griffiths put the Jets ahead from the spot but the Mariners fought back to win, thanks to goals from Sasho Petrovski and Matty Simon.

McKinna said: "We gave away a soft penalty, but came back in the second half with a good performance and we were unlucky not to go further ahead, which was fantastic.

"Their first goal took the wind out of us and they were competing with us all over the park – they were first to every ball and challenging for every ball and we weren’t.

"The second half we slowly came into it, Matt Simon came on and was lively, Adrian Caceres came on and the game opened up and we could have scored a couple more goals."

We just need to make sure that we don’t give away goals in the first ten minutes, everyone goes on about us being able to come back, but I’d rather we get the first goal and hold onto a game – that’s bad for your heart out there.

"Everybody has the capability to knock someone else off, we just need to concentrate on what we’re doing and get back to our winning ways."

As for the post-final whistle scuffles between the players and dismissal of Dylan MacAllister for abusive language, McKinna said: "Anything like that after the game there is just no need for it. I don't know what happened but I know everyone was diving in there and getting involved and there is just no need for it.

"It is just funny how everybody is in there and two of our players get cards."

McKinna indicated that the initial bust-up feature Mariners attacking midfielder John Hutchinson.

"It will be interesting to see if there is any footage of that because I know John Hutchinson had a hand around his throat when it all started, so it would be interesting to see if anything comes of that.

"But it was just handbags and shouting. It was nothing."

Mariners skipper Alex Wilkinson, who was celebrating his 100th game with the club, also brushed off the incident while his Jets counterpart Jade North said it was just part and parcel of a heated derby clash.

"I really wasn't that close to it," Wilkinson said. "It was a passionate game and the passion just spilt over. But I wasn't close enough to hear what was going on."

"I didn't really see what happened but it was only a bit of push and shove and the ref came over and sorted it out," North added. "You get a bit of that in derbies. In that situation you have just got to be smart and walk away."

McKinna said his only concern from the incident was the fact that MacAllister (red card) and Simon, having collected five yellow cards for the season, would be forced to watch next round's clash against Perth from the sidelines.

"It is disciplinary – we have two boys suspended next week," said McKinna

"It is good that Nik Mrdja played in the Youth League and scored two goals and set up one, so obviously he is the only one walking around with a smile on his face when we have our two strikers suspended."