The Mariners fell to traditional rivals Newcastle on Wednesday, the Jets finishing 2-0 winners in the #F3Derby at Central Coast Stadium.
Goals to Roy O’Donovan and Lucas Mauragis in the first half were enough, as the Mariners missed out on the chance to secure their spot in the A-League finals.
Alen Stajcic made two changes to the Mariners side that beat Macarthur, with Daniel DeSilva replaced by Dan Bouman after picking up a knock in that game, while Dan Hall came in for Ruon Tongyik following his departure to link up with the Socceroos.
The Mariners looked dangerous early through Marco Urena as he forced a save from Jack Duncan after being set free by Kye Rowles, and then again after a superb releasing pass from Mark Birighitti only to then see his cut back intercepted.
It was to be the visitors who struck first though, as Roy O’Donovan finished off a counter attacking move, firing past Birighitti after being played in by Archie Goodwin.
Four minutes later it was two, this time Mauragis squeezing an effort home as the Jets broke once more, despite the best efforts of Birighitti and then Hall on the line.
Dan Bouman thought he had pulled one back just before half time only for the goal to be ruled out for offside in the build up, and Stajcic made two changes while down at the break, bringing on Alou Kuol for Matt Simon and Lewis Miller for Stefan Nigro.
Miller looked to cause problems down the right and was fouled a number of times for his troubles, while Stajcic introduced Michal Janota and Jaden Casella to the fray with 25 minutes to play for Oli Bozanic and Josh Nisbet.
Chances were few and far between as the Jets sat deep and got very physical with time winding down, and they held on to record a win and leave the Mariners still one point shy of a guaranteed finals berth.
Stajcic and his team will be looking to put it beyond doubt on Saturday though, when they host Western United in the final home game of the regular season. Click here to get your tickets!
