Queensland Roar has retaken second spot on the A-League ladder after a 1-1 draw with the Central Coast Mariners at Suncorp Stadium.

The Roar overtook Adelaide, which lost to Newcastle on Friday night, although it did fail to capitalise on a series of second-half chances to grab all three points.

As in last weekend's loss to the Jets, the hosts were forced to come from behind after veteran Mariners striker Damian Mori expertly opened the scoring midway through the first-half.

Short-term signing Mori, who extended his stay at the Mariners for another four games during the week, scored his fourth goal in five matches with a technically excellent turn and finish in the 21st minute.

Brazilian import Reinaldo's headed goal four minutes after half-time, his third strike of the season, claimed a share of the spoils.

The pre-match hype centred on the returns of strike pair Yuning Zhang (Roar) and Nik Mrdja (Mariners) with the former China international making his first start for Queensland after an interrupted beginning to his A-League career.

With Simon Lynch left out of the squad altogether with a back complaint and Ante Milicic surprisingly dropped to the bench, Zhang had his first opportunity to impress his home support.

His clever movement caused some problems for a rejigged Mariners defence but he too often appeared to float on the periphery of the action and failed to link up successfully with fellow striker Reinaldo.

Indeed, the Brazilian had the best chance of the opening stages when he pounced on a Matt McKay through ball and unleashed two shots, which first the outstanding Paul O'Grady then Wayne O'Sullivan blocked.

At the other end goalkeeper Liam Reddy was also back in favour with coach Miron Bleiberg but the recalled 'keeper, who had kept four clean sheets in five matches before being benched for Tom Willis, was exposed by the brilliance of Mori.

Just seconds after Reddy had snuffed out one dangerous situation when Mori beat the offside trap, the experienced marksman shrugged off the close attention of captain Josh McCloughan and poked a left-footed shot past the flailing reach of Queensland's No.1 to break the deadlock.

Reinaldo and Stuart McLaren then had half-chances for the hosts before a Tom Pondeljak cross from the right almost caught Reddy unawares before the 'keeper backtracked and produced an agile one-handed tip over his bar.

Reinaldo's towering back-post header bought the sides level soon after the restart, the beanpole striker climbing highest to powerfully nod home a Spase Dilevski corner.

McKay might have given the Roar the lead when Zhang - who minutes later was replaced by Ante Milicic - played him through, but he somehow construed to fire inches wide of the mark.

The Mariners were also coming close with both Mori and Pondeljak dragging efforts fractionally wide of Reddy's goal, while Andrew Packer forced Vukovic into a point-blank save at his near post.

Vukovic was also called upon to athletically keep out Marcus Wedau's long-range effort in the dying stages.

Mrdja made his long-waited A-League debut on 74 minutes as a substitute for Adam Kwasnik after 14 months on the sidelines with a knee injury, although made little impact as he bids to rebuild match fitness.

The sides' fifth draw in as many league meetings means the Roar leapfrog United into second on goal difference while the Mariners temporarily move into a tie for fourth.

Roar coach Miron Bleiberg said the evenness of the sides was a reflection on Queensland's progress this season, especially following the loss to Newcastle last week.

"I'm not disappointed because I'm happy with the performance of the boys after last week," Bleiberg said.

"I think we deserved to win but it wasn't a black and white situation so a draw is a fair result.

"I think it maybe flatters us. It's not that we can't beat them, they can't beat us."

Mariners mentor Lawrie McKinna was pleased with how his side clung on despite the barrage of pressure in the final 20 minutes.

"I'm happy with a point although I'm not that happy with how we played in the second half," McKinna said.

"We wanted to come out the first 10 minutes and hold them out because we knew they would come at us.

"(After the goal) Queensland got the lift they needed because I thought we frustrated them reasonably well in the first-half and they had only a few chances.

"But we hung on and we've now had three wins and a draw in the last five weeks."

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