Andy Keogh and Fabio Ferreira hits braces as Glory hammer Central Coast

Andy Keogh and Fabio Ferreira ended goal-scoring droughts and a goalpost was also broken, as Perth Glory ended 2018 top of the A-League and Central Coast completed their year from hell.

The game, won 4-1 by Perth at Gosford's Central Coast Stadium, was held up for 40 minutes after a post was snapped when Perth defender Tomislav Mrcela ran hard into the back of the Mariners goal.

The players left the ground around 12 minutes into the delay as officials addressed the situation.

With both goals needing to be the same dimensions, the groundstaff from Central Coast council got two portable training goals from under the grandstand and took the wheels off.

It happened in the 10th minute, by which time Keogh ended his five-game run without a goal. He added a second in the dying seconds of the game.

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After the game resumed, former Mariner Ferreira scored two goals to give his side a 3-0 half-time advantage and set up a three-point lead at the top of the table.

They were the first goals in 23 months for the Portuguese forward, whose last one ironically was a penalty for the Mariners against Perth on the same ground in January 2017.

The loss meant Central Coast went through 2018 with just one A-League win in 24 games and have gone 15 matches since their last victory.

They got off to the worst possible start, conceding in he third minute when Glory captain and striker Keogh slotted the ball home after the Mariners failed to properly clear a ball into their penalty area.

In the incident which led to the snapped post, Mrcela headed the ball into the net before charging into it, but it was disallowed for offside.

The delay allowed the Mariners to regroup and they did initially show more intensity after the restart.

In one passage of play, Mariners goalkeeper Adam Pearce saved a Joel Chianese shot, the defence blocked another attempt and a third effort went wide.

But it was a temporary reprieve as Glory doubled their lead within three minutes, when Ferreira headed home a Jason Davidson cross.

Ferreira struck again just before half-time, when his cross floated over Pearce into the far corner of the net.

That was enough for some disgruntled Mariners supporters, who left after the goal, while others booed their side off at the break.

The Mariners had more possession in the second half and substitute Jordan Murray went close twice before scrambling the ball home in the 78th minute for his first A-League goal.