Wanderers surge to top spot Central Coast Mariners 0 Western Sydney Wanderers 1 WESTERN Sydney Wanderers moved to the top of the A-League table after a fairytale finish which resulted in an unhappy ending for Central Coast Mariners. A near sell-out crowd and an atmosphere never seen before at Bluetongue Stadium ensured that 90 minutes of theatre was on the cards, but few expected the drama that followed. Substitute Labinot Haliti emerged as the unlikely hero for the Wanderers with a late winner while teammate Ante Covic was the villain for the Mariners, with a fine penalty save to extend the home team's nightmare from the spot. Both teams struggled to maintain possession in the slippery conditions during a frantic opening period and it was no surprise to see the Mariners resorting to long balls in search of their overlapping fullbacks. Pedj Bojic was the main attacking outlet down the Mariners' right flank and his combination with Bernie Ibini created a number of openings. The pressure of the Mariners' attack exposed holes in the Wanderers' defence and Ibini should have put the hosts in the lead in the 19th minute. Mike McGlinchey found Ibini unmarked in the box but a flurried first-time shot sailed over the bar. The Wanderers started the second half with more intent and nearly stole the lead two minutes after the restart. Mark Bridge latched on to a cross aimed at the far post and hit a first-time volley in search of Croatian striker Dino Kresinger in front of goal. The giant striker failed to meet the flight of the ball and a chance to head into an empty net went begging. Kresinger's agonising miss was compounded by referee Alan Milliner minutes later, who ruled he fouled Patrick Zwaanswijk in the box and immediately pointed to the spot, despite replays showing minimal contact. The Mariners had missed their last three penalties and goalkeeper Mat Ryan surprisingly stepped up to end their jinx. He fired hard, low and down the middle to deceive Covic, but not his trailing legs. The fourth straight penalty miss failed to discourage their raids on the Wanderers' goal and they pegged their opponents deep inside their own half. Western Sydney coach Tony Popovic responded with a surprise substitution on the hour-mark, bringing off marquee player Shinji Ono for Aaron Mooy. Despite toying with the Wanderers defence, the home side could find no way through the last line of defence and would lament the wastefulness. Few saw Haliti played through on goal as the Mariners were still protesting a disputed throw-in call and the Wanderers supporters had their back to goal while doing "The Poznan." With few watchful eyes compounding the pressure, the substitute struck a calm finish that elicited a belated roar from the more than 6000 travelling fans and will torment the Mariners for some time to come. A late flurry of chances for the Mariners tested the Wanderers backline in the wet. Though, they held firm to move to the top of the table less than five months after they entered professional football. ■ Adelaide United's season continued to spiral out of control when beaten 1-0 by Brisbane Roar on Saturday. Crowd: 18,721. Referee: Alan Milliner. Twitter -@DomBossi