Central Coast will count the cost of spoiling bitter rivals Newcastle's hopes of making history after defender Storm Roux and young gun Miguel Di Pizio picked up injuries in their 0-0 A-League Men draw.
In one of the most anticipated F3 derbies, the Jets needed a win to move within one victory of equalling Western Sydney's record of 10 consecutive wins in the 2012/2013 season.
All three points at Polytec Stadium on Saturday would have also helped their opponents equal the same number of points as sixth-placed Macarthur FC, to continue their rapid rise into finals contention, having sat last on the table just weeks ago.
But Central Coast's hopes of victory took a hammering after Roux picked up a hamstring injury in the 18th minute.
Just 11 minutes later, Di Pizio left the pitch after coming off second best in a challenge with Joe Shaughnessy.
Regardless, the Mariners shook off their setbacks to withstand Newcastle's persistent attacks, extending their own unbeaten streak to six games with seven rounds of the regular season to go.
"That was pretty much how I would like this team to play over 90 minutes," coach Warren Moon said.
"With Storm, it's a soft tissue injury. We just got into it and had to adapt."
After scoring a last-gasp winner to beat the Wanderers 3-2 last Sunday, James Donachie was again the hero after clearing a Lachie Rose strike off the goal line in the 42nd minute.
Rose had another chance go begging moments later when he speared the ball towards goal, but it thumped into the crossbar.
From there, Central Coast found a new gear as their rigid defence, laced with 44 per cent of possession, helped the match end in a stalemate.
The draw keeps the Jets just two points above Auckland FC on the ladder after the Kiwis' 3-0 win over Melbourne City earlier in the day.
Newcastle thought they had opened the scoring when Eli Adams slammed home a Clayton Taylor cut back into the top left corner on 21 minutes.
But it was chalked off as midfielder Will Dobson was ruled to be offside in the lead up.
"We've had a couple (of disallowed goals) this year. VAR was meant to be clear and obvious ... I still don't understand how that's offside," coach Mark Milligan said.
"It's a rule, it was disallowed, and we didn't create enough in the second half."
Central Coast's best chance came in the 54th minute when defender Lucas Mauragis thumped the ball towards the left corner, and it met the fingertips of James Delianov.
