Gold Coast United were not expected to do much after a horror week but managed to hold the Central Coast Mariners to just a 3-3 draw in their rescheduled match on Wednesday night.
After owner Clive Palmer chose to suspend coach Miron Bleiberg he came out in the press and announced his resignation after being offended by Palmer only to be fired by the club because they didn't recieve a letter of resignation.
In the mix of all this were Clive Palmer's comments in the Courier Mail on Sunday morning that had him speak ill not just of the A-League but also the game of football, leaving the future of the club in some serious doubt.
With all that in the background Gold Coast were expected to suffer a heavy defeat but with a squad playing for their futures it was always going to be tougher than that for the Mariners.
Things were going about as expected when Adam Kwasnik put the Mariners in front after just four minutes as Tom Rogic's cross was deflected off Zac Anderson allowing Kwasnik a simple tap-in.
But just four minutes later Gold Coast United were level as Gol-Gol Mebrahtu earned the hosts a penalty after being brought down by Rostyn Griffiths, allowing Chris Harold to convert the penalty.
In the 17th minute Gold Coast stunned the league leaders as Ben Halloran scored a wondergoal, after making a great run getting through the Mariners defense he launched a rocket from the top of the box that saw Justin Pasfield get a hand to it but it wasn't enough as Gold Coast took the lead.
That was enough to keep Gold Coast in front at the break, and earn them a visit from their owner which evidently inspired Golf Coast as they came out from the break the better side.
In the 56th minute Gold Coast took a 3-1 lead as Halloran sent a great ball for Mitch Cooper at close range and he had enough space to take two touches and slam home.
But it didn't take long for the Mariners to come back as just three minutes later they had their second, as Bernie Ibini-Isei managed to regain possession from Michael Thwaite and go on to punish him for it scoring well.
The Mariners were back on level terms in the 66th minute as Kwasnik managed his brace scoring with a free header after some poor Gold Coast defending.
The Mariners dominated the rest of the match, piling all the pressure on the Gold Coast defense but just couldn't find a goal.
Patrick Zwaanswijk had the best chance of a late winner for the Mariners as he hit a powerful header in the 87th minute but it went just wide.
The result means that Gold Coast United will end the season as the only team to have not lost to the Mariners while the Mariners now go six points clear at the top of the table.
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