Following a first-half brace from Jamie Maclaren born from suspect United defending and a sumptuous volley from Adrian Luna, the hosts had taken a 3-0 lead into the dressing rooms at AAMI Park on Friday night and appeared to be cruising.

However, two late penalties won by second-half substitutes Josh Cavallo and Dylan Pierias were duly converted by Besart Berisha and Alessandro Diamanti brought it back to 3-2.

With defender Harrison Delbridge dismissed for a denial of a clear goalscoring opportunity as he conceded the second penalty, City was then well and truly forced sweat it out as the final 15 minutes ticked away.

Entering into the contest coming off back-to-back defeats against Melbourne Victory and Sydney FC in what was arguably the two biggest games they had thus far played in 2019/20, much had been made of City’s mental strength in the build to Friday night’s contest.

But, speaking to FTBL after the contest’s conclusion, Noone said that City’s ability batten down the hatches after conceding two late goals showed great character.

“It was a good win, we needed it,” the attacker said. “We made it tough on ourselves but we got the three points and that’s all that matters

“[Mombaerts first half message was] to go full pelt and play intensely and run hard and really press them high and go for it and that’s what we’ve done, we started off really strongly.

“We were expecting them to play five at the back. They changed, and we adapted to it really well we thought. We got the goals early on and that set us up for the game.

“I think there was a number of factors [relating to the second half swoon], we tried to go out in the second half and play the same way and, honestly, it was a sucker punch, the two penalties.

“But we showed great character to get the win.”

“We showed great fight as well. We made it difficult for ourselves – but we’ll take the three points and move on.

“We’ve got a good strong squad and a good togetherness around the squad. The staff as well, we feel together as one and I think that’s important.”

After struggling at times during the A-League season proper after a barnstorming pre-season FFA Cup run, Noone turned in perhaps his best league performance in a City shirt against United.

Deployed as part of a front-three alongside Maclaren and Lachie Wales, the winger caused havoc for United’s makeshift back four and delivered an inch-perfect ball to set up Luna’s volleyed goal.

“I tried to look at my own performance and I thought I'd done well,” the Englishman said. “But it’s not just about me, it's about the whole team and we managed to get three points and I was happy to play a part in it and get the assist.”