A pair of second half goals and two magnificent Jason Petkovic saves earned Perth a 2-2 draw against Central Coast in Glory veteran Matt Horsley's farewell A-League appearance.

The Glory fought back after conceding two early goals in a disastrous opening 15 minutes to claim a point from the action-packed clash and remain entrenched in the top four.

Mariners duo John Hutchinson and Stewart Petrie each pocketed goals in the opening 15 minutes before Nick Ward and Hiroyuki Ishida pegged back both scores early in the second half at Members Equity Stadium.

The draw advanced Central Coast to fifth on the ladder, two points adrift of the fourth-placed Perth, as the competition heads into its three-week Christmas break.

Hutchinson should have scored the winner for the Mariners in the 79th minute, but was twice denied by Petkovic at close range.

The `keeper blocked Hutchinson's first attempt before jumping off the canvas to deny the forward's second effort a fraction of a second later.

Petkovic's heroics at least gave Horsley a memorable end to a distinguished career and no doubt gave coach Steve McMahon a bit of relief after the former Liverpool midfielder awoke to newspaper headlines claiming he faced the sack regardless of where the Glory finish at the end of the season.

Horsley was handed the captain's armband by regular skipper Jamie Harnwell for his final appearance in professional football.

The 33-year-old has pulled the curtains on a distinguished career which included one Socceroo appearance, 354 games in the A-League and the old National Soccer League, and four NSL titles with Perth and Wollongong, to move with his family to northern Western Australia.

It looked like being an unhappy farewell early in the first half after two Horsley errors allowed Central Coast to take a 2-0 lead.

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