Play between Central Coast Mariners and Sydney FC ground to a halt as a fully-dressed fan leapt over the barriers to sprint across the pitch.

But instead of being tackled to the ground by security, no-one even came close to stopping the intruder on the match action.

He exchanged a cheeky high five with one Sydney player before reaching out to have an apparently playful slap at the assistant ref.

With no stewards in sight, he stopped by the far corner flag and taunted them to chase him until they finally started to close in on him.

Eventually he ran out of pitch and tried to evade security by blending in with the fans... but the empty seats in the stadium made that impossible and he was finally cornered by security at the back of the terraces behind the goals.

The game ended in a 2-1 win for Sydney after super sub Matt Simon scored in injury time to claim all three points for Sydney.

A goal from Sydney marquee Milos Ninkovic had been wiped out by a late equaliser from Jake McGing and the game looked destined to end in a draw despite the Mariners apparently denied a late penalty, while another late Sydney goal by Matt Simon was struck off before he struck again deep into the final moments of the game.

The win now leaves Sydney within a point of claiming the Premiers Plate ewith three games left in the season.