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.
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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.
However, 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.
His initial effort was saved by Eugene Galekovic, before Simon followed up on the rebound and blasted the ball into the net.
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.
"I think everybody in the whole of Australia would have thought (here we go again)," Mariners coach Mike Mulvey said.
"The whole of Australia except our team and dressing room. Because we believe we can get results.
"What we did differently today was we held onto that shape and we realised we can get them on the break or build an attack. And that's what we did."
The win marked the Mariners' first victory in 19 games - dating back to February 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 opened the scoring in the 32nd minute when he made the most of a surging run down the right wing by Matthew Millar.
Millar weaved his way past a number of City defenders into the box and teed up Pain who slotted home with a smart left-foot finish.
Pain almost had a second in the 69th minute when he broke down the left edge and fired towards the near post, only for Galekovic to make a decent save.
But it again looked like falling over late for the Mariners when their former player Wales headed home a Berenguer-Bohrer corner to level the scores 11 minutes from time.
"I think at 1-1 we were still a little naive because there is plenty of time to go on and win it," City coach Warren Joyce said.
"We were the team driving the game as well, so you've got to be smart at keeping the ball and playing your positions and not getting caught out.
"We gave the ball away cheap for both goals ... and got done on counters."
Australian Associated Press
