Victory are chasing the Premiers Plate and put in an edgy, tense, rather nervous performance which required two moments of inspiration from Brazilian midfielder Gui Finkler to give them a 2-1 win after the Mariners had taken a surprise lead.

"I think we would be happy with our output," Walmsley said after the game, although he, like many before him this season, had cause to lament the effectiveness of Victory's quartet of quality forwards. "We tried to execute and made a good fist of it. The risk was that the front four of Melbourne have the class to hurt you. Finkler's popped up with two really good goals."

Walmsley has only been in charge for a short time since the dismissal of predecessor Phil Moss. But he has worked hard on organising his team and changing its style. Its hard work and pressing almost got it something few would expect on Friday night.

"The fans will really love the players getting in the face of opponents and trying to win back possession," he said. "My intent is to ask that question of the players, home and away. This is how the Mariners play now. There's a peg in the ground … this is how we play."

For Muscat the three points were all that mattered, although he says that simply winning cannot be the sole motivation of his team for the remainder of the season as a results-at-any-cost philosophy tends not to deliver the results that a team wants.

"We made it very hard on ourselves in the first half not retaining possession. We couldn't find the composure. Bringing a few players in maybe it took us time to settle down," said Muscat.

"To win consistently you need to perform well. I am under no illusion that we can perform better than we did tonight, and we will do. There is a lot of expectation and nerves around everyone and maybe that played a part." the Victory boss said.