In one of the most explosive starts to the F3 Derby in recent years, O'Donovan swept aside Asdrubal's opening goal (5') to pump three into the back of the net and give last season's wooden spooners a dream start to their 2017/18 campaign.

The 32-year-old earned and converted a contentious penalty to level the scores on nine minutes before striking twice more (28', 38') and chipping in with two assists in what turned out to be a 5-1 rout.

After some pre-match baiting of his old team, O'Donovan tried to keep a lid on emotions post game at Central Coast Stadium.

"It's a great start.. a nice way to introduce myself to the Newcastle fans," he told Fox Sports.

"I just want to say that I liked my time here at Mariners, great club, everything I said before the game was to sell some tickets."

And it seemed to work with his hat-trick - the third fastest in A-League history - played out in front of more than 12,000 people.

O'Donovan said going to the Mariners' biggest rivals was always going to cause "a big storm" and he praised new coach Ernie Merrick for putting together a "great team".

"It is a fantastic club, without (CEO) Lawrie McKinna I wouldn't be there - he pulled out all the stops to get me there - and.look it's Mariners loss."

But he added that the Gosford outfit was a great team and predicted Paul Okon's men would be competitive this season.

 

O'Donovan struck with his left, right and then finished off with a header.

Late substitute Joe Champness, 20, added to the tally with a debut goal (81'), just two minutes after running onto the pitch, before Dimi Petratos completed Newcastle's biggest derby win.