The Mariners trailed 3-0 at half-time, before Roy O’Donovan pulled one back early in the second half.

Then there was a late flurry with a Liam Reddy own goal and then an O’Donovan penalty levelling up the match in the final five minutes.

“They fought, they believed, we say the rewards are there for the brave and we were brave in the second half to come away with the point,” Okon said.

“To be honest I always felt we were in the game when we had the ball.

“At the start we looked nervous, maybe the occasion got to us and we were sloppy, we gave away three silly goals which is probably the most disappointing thing about it but in the second half I have to give full credit to the players.”

After finishing a record low adrift in last spot in 2015/16, Okon said it was a great result for his rebuilding side.

“Everyone is entitled to their opinion, a lot of those opinions are based on last season but within the four walls of that dressing room there’s a lot of pride, there is a winning mentality and there is a culture,” Okon said.

“One game doesn’t make a season, we are aware that there are 26 games to go, in the A-League you need to put two halves together to give yourself a real chance of winning and that’s what we will endeavour to do.

“We have some great players in that dressing room, hopefully we will have Fabio Ferreira back next week who gives us that X-Factor, young Trent Buhagiar was outstanding tonight and we just want to get better every week.”

While Ferreira could return to face Sydney FC next weekend, Okon revealed Jacques Faty had sustained a cork, forcing his substitution at half-time.

“Jacques took a knock, he had a cork so we felt that Jake McGing would give us some more mobility and I thought he was excellent, he really played his part,” Okon said.