Central Coast Mariners beat Melbourne City to end 327 day winless run

Central Coast's 327-day A-League drought is over, with a last-minute Matt Simon goal helping the Mariners to an upset 2-1 win over Melbourne City at Gosford.

The home side's' hearts appeared to be broken again when City equalised late through Lachlan Wales in front of a crowd of just over 4,000.

But, veteran striker Simon had the chance to win it when he was shoved over in the box by Rostyn Griffiths and referee Jarred Gillett pointed to the spot.

However, his initial effort was saved by Eugene Galekovic, before Simon followed up on the rebound and blasted the ball into the net.

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Mariners goalkeeper Ben Kennedy then made his third crucial save of the night, pushing a Florin Berenguer-Bohrer shot over the crossbar as the hosts held on for an unlikely victory against the fourth-placed City.

The win marked the Mariners' first victory in 19 games -- dating back to Feb. 23 last year -- and their first points in 11 matches since drawing back-to-back games earlier in the season.

Both streaks would have equalled unwanted records from the New Zealand Knights in the opening season of the A-League had the Mariners lost.

Connor Pain earlier scored the Mariners' first in the 32nd minute when he made the most of a long Matthew Millar run down the right wing.

Millar went 40 metres on his own before stepping through a number of defenders into the box and passed low for Pain, who slotted it home with his left boot.

Pain almost had a second in the 69th minute when he broke down the left edge and fired it into the near post, only for Galekovic to snaffle it as it inched towards the line.

But it again looked like falling over late for the Mariners when their former player in Wales headed home a Berenguer-Bohrer corner to level the scores 11 minutes from time.