Having seen his side go without a win in four matches, United coach Aurelio Vidmar was full of praise for his team, particularly in a lively first half of exciting football.

"I thought they were great. He (Cassio) was great, Travis was great, Eugene was great, everyone. You probably want to give everyone three points tonight just in terms of what we asked for during the course of the week, their commitment, it was spot on tonight," Vidmar said.

"It was really important that we won tonight. Three points are really healthy for us in terms of where we're positioned on the ladder, so we just need a good run of wins now so hopefully two or three on the trot would be great."

Having conceded seven goals in five games so far this season, it was a much stingier and desperate defensive showing from the Reds, as they allowed the Mariners few clear chances to get their way back into the game.

Vidmar added: "I thought we were very dominant for the 90 minutes, especially that first half, I thought that was some of the best football we've played here in years..

"That's the type of football we're looking for. It's direct, it's dynamic, the tempo was great and sure we slowed down a little bit in that second half, that's going to happen, but certainly we were dominant for the 90 minutes."

"Maybe that first 30 minutes we could have had three or four goals, it wasn't to be and it made us still concentrate for the full 90 minutes because the Central Coast are a good side, they'll just keep coming back."