Bradden Inman struck with three minutes left, after Dimi Petratos' first half goal, to leave the spoils shared at McDonald Jones Stadium.

But Angus Thurgate missed a one on one with Roar keeper Jamie Young, when the Jets were still 1-0 ahead in the second half, which could have killed the game off.

Despite the draw, Merrick was pleased with the effort and performance of his team.

"To bounce back from previous two games, I thought the boys did really well," he said.

"The first 15 minutes we had to settle down, after that I felt they hardly created a chance and we had so many. The bottom line was it came down to two terrific saves from two very good chances.

"Gus one on one with Jamie Young, Jamie Young pulled off a save, and the header from Kantarovski, he pulled off another save. That’s the difference - You have to score those. But I was very impressed by the boys. I thought it was a good all-round performance."

On the Jets' lack of finishing, Merrick said: "We can’t do anything about that. Angus is getting better with every game.

"Getting a win is very important every week. We were very close to it this week but but we didn’t finish it off, which is the story of this season.... We sat back just a little bit too much.

"But, when you do that and the other team comes forward, it creates opportunities for you. There was a couple of times we could have broken away."