A glum Nicholas Pennington has admitted Perth Glory's 1-1 A-League Men draw with Central Coast feels more like two points dropped, after a calamitous error from keeper Oli Sail gifted the Mariners their equaliser.
Appearing well on their way to three points at HBF Park on Friday following an early Adam Taggart strike, the hosts were left stunned on the hour mark when Sail had a seemingly routine save of a Haine Eames shot ghost through him.
Quickly getting in line with the teenager's effort from outside the box, the Glory keeper began going down on all fours to get his body behind a routine collection, only for the ball to scoot under his chest, between his legs, and into the net.
"It was a tough game, but we definitely lost the points there for sure," Perth midfielder Pennington said.
Rather than boosting their attempts to avoid consecutive wooden spoons by moving six points clear of bottom-placed Brisbane, the result instead means that the Glory remain just four points beyond the Roar, who have two games in hand.
"We're a bit unlucky this year," said Pennington.
"The fans deserve more from us. I'm sorry we couldn't get a win for them, again. They're here every time, cheering us on.
"It's such a shame, we should have got three points."
A fourth-consecutive draw – a new club record – also did little for the Mariners' place in the standings, keeping them three points back of the playoff places, having played more games than every side above them.
"It's not what we wanted – we don't want to draw games," Mariners coach Mark Jackson admitted.
"Then again, we don't want to lose games and we could have quite easily lost that game."
Despite the disappointing result, it was another positive evening for Taggart, who made it six goals for the season with his third in his last four games.
Running off a hamstring complaint suffered just before halftime, the Socceroo striker was at the forefront of the Glory's furious attempts to find a winner, alongside the likes of Pennington, Joel Anasmo, Nikola Mileusnic, and Nathanael Blair.
But, ultimately, the hosts couldn't find a way past Dylan Peraic-Cullen.
"After that goal from the Mariners, I was really happy and impressed with the reaction," Glory boss David Zdrillic said.
"They went at them again straight away and didn't put their heads down.
"We've been unlucky, but we'll keep fighting."
