Alex Wilkinson and Pedj Bojic were the heroes for Central Coast as the Mariners managed to escape Energy Australia Stadium with an undeserved 1-1 draw in the F3 derby.
Matthew Thompson struck the post courtesy of a wicked deflection late in the second half, as the Jets piled on the pressure.
Heartbreak struck the Jets’ faithful as Matthew Simon headed home Bojic’s headed pass in the last five minutes to the shock of Jets’ goalkeeper Ante Covic, who barely had a thing to do all game.
The drama wasn’t over as a last minute penalty was converted by Joel Griffiths for the Jets.
Jets’ striker Griffiths although disappointed not to take all three points at home said the Mariners were well worth their one point.
“Full credit to the Mariners, I thought they played a pretty solid game at the back and they didn’t let us in,” Griffiths said.
Jets’ fans were keen to see the debut of Ecuadorian striker Edmundo Zura, who is expected to share the load with Jets’ star, Joel Griffiths.
Both teams went into the early exchanges at full-throttle, unwilling to hold back, with sibling rivalry at the fore, as no less than three sets of brothers were on the pitch.
Danny Vukovic made his presence felt early, intercepting a Zura cross to boos from the Jets’ squadron.
Vukovic was banned for the Olympics after striking referee Mark Shields in last year’s grand final.
The crowd had to wait until the 20 minute mark for the first real attempt on goal, as Newcastle’s Jin Hyung Song struck a long range fizzer.
Pedj Bojic could have marked his debut with the opener in the 35th minute but sprayed his shot wide after latching onto a David D’Apuzzo corner.
With the opening half lacklustre to say the least, the only bright light was 16-year-old Ben Kantarovski, who showed the composure of a seasoned campaigner.
Jets' coach Gary van Egmond said of the youngster, "He's technically very good and he's only going to get better, so that's probably a little bit frightening."
The Jets were without Jade North at the back who is rumored to be moving to France. Van Egmond took it in his stride saying “Jade’s been linked with more clubs than Jack Nicklaus at this stage”.
The second half proved to be much more entertaining, with the Jets unlucky not to grab all three points.
Matthew Thompson found the back of the old onion bag in the 55th minute after some fabulous play by the Jets, only to be correctly ruled offside, as both teams upped the ante.
A fantastic cross from Joel Griffiths eluded both Zura and Thompson as the Jets pushed for the opening goal of the A-League season.
With the score locked at nil-all, both coaches looked to the bench to inject spark substituting their forwards with Zura and Sasho Petrovski replaced by Jason Hoffman and Matthew Simon.
Against the run of play the Central Coast bagged the opening goal with five minutes on the clock through Simon’s headed finish.
Griffiths saved the Jets slotting home the equaliser from the penalty spot in the last minute after Tarek Elrich was brought down in the box.
Van Egmond although happy not to lose was left "frustrated" while Griffiths said although overall he believed the match was positive "we gave away two points tonight."