New coach Arthur Papas, after overhauling the roster, vowed to deliver a new brand of football for the Jets faithful.

There were glimpses - the Jets had the better of possession and crafted more shots - but they lacked a killer punch. At least early.

Papas also maintained that his side would give everything until the final minute. They certainly delivered on that front.

Substitute Valentino Yuel provided a lifeline in the 78^th minute as the home team stormed home.

In the end, two goals in five minutes to Josh Nisbet (51st) and debutant Jack Farrell (56th) were enough for the Mariners to scrape home in front of 6424 fans.

"It was a bit unfortunate; it was a game of two halves," Yuel said post-match.

"I thought we could've put a few chances away in the first half.

"They took their chances when they had them and we had our chance to get them. Pretty much it was tough to take but we'll have to bounce back from this."

Nisbet hadn't hit the target in 41 A-League appearances, but he made the most of his chance in the 51st minute after Jets midfielder Kosta Grozos had been dispossessed.

The travelling supporters had barely stopped celebrating when another home-grown product Farrell double downed with his maiden A-League goal from a corner.

The Jets found a way back in the 78^th minute. Angus Thurgate whipped a cross in for Yuel to head home.

"I wanted to make a difference when I came on," Yuel said. "I saw the ball getting crossed in, so I had to put something on it.

"Fortunately I gave us a lifeline, something to chase. I wish I could've got another one in there but unfortunately it wasn't enough."

Yuel's goal sparked the Jets to life with the hosts then bombarding the Mariners box.

Beqa Mikeltadze, who couldn't buy a goal, was denied by the post in the 80^th minute.

They had two other strong calls for penalties turned down by referee Kurt Ams in a frenetic final 10 minutes.

"It is obviously a disappointed room - derby match, at home and not come away with something," Papas said. "In the second half we had 70 per cent possessions, we have had 19 shots to 12. We have had a performance that warrants a result, but we need to get better at not making errors at costly times. And also managing the emotions of a game. There was a seven-minute period where the game was lost.

"We got involved in the emotion of a derby instead of playing our football. It detracted from what we were doing really well. Character-wise there a lot of positives. At 2-0 it is very easy to give up and throw the towel in. I think we threw everything at them and more."

The Jets began last season with a 1-0 loss to the Mariners, the first of four straight defeats to open the campaign.

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On the surface of Sunday, this Jets outfit won't have to wait that long for their first victory.

Next is a trip to Parramatta to take on Western Sydney on Sunday.

Foreigners Daniel Penha, Olivier Boumal and Savvas Siatravanis caused havoc in the first half.

However, the Jets appeared brittle defensively when the Mariners got in behind.

Papas kept faith in the XI that were unlucky to go down 2-1 to Western United in the FFA Cup qualifier.

New captain Matt Jurman was among eight players making their debut in the A-League for the club.

Keeper Jack Duncan, left back Jason Hoffman and midfielder Thurgate were the only survivors from the side which beat Melbourne City in the final round to avoid the wooden spoon last year.

The home side lost Hoffman to a leg injury in the 15th minute and he was replaced by Riley Warland.

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