Central Coast Mariners were in cruise control on Saturday night but two simple mistakes cost them the game.

The Mariners were 1-0 up against Gold Coast United at Skilled Park in the 68th minute but the home side managed to score twice to take the points - a result coach Lawrie McKinna was still ruing today.

"Up until 68 minutes, when they scored, it was the most comfortable we had been," McKinna said.

"But we made two mistakes and copped two goals.

"The first goal, Brad Porter tried to steal a ball when he probably didn't need to, then the cross has come in and it was a typical Smeltz goal. "The second goal was Heffs (Dean Heffernan). It was a bad pass back, they capitalised on it and got a tap in."

Central Coast were going for eight matches unbeaten but unfortunately for them, the two mistakes they did happen to make were taken well by Gold Coast, who leapfrogged them on the A-League table with the three points.