After the Mariners finished with nine men amid frustrations boiling over from a 5-3 home loss to Brisbane on Friday night, a lash or two might be coming their way from FFA.

The Mariners, on just seven points after 20 games, look destined for a second consecutive wooden spoon after they fell eight points behind second-from-bottom Roar with seven rounds to go.

The gap, though, and wonder goals from Roar imports Eric Bautheac and Alex Lopez were overshadowed by the Mariners' running battle with officials and the send off of captain Matt Simon and Aiden O'Neill.

Simon was booked in the 18th minute for dissent after an ugly incident in which he yelled in the face of referee Stephen Lucas.

His second yellow came in the closing moments of the match after a late challenge, and he launched another tirade at officials as he left the field.

Between his cautions, Simon twice had penalty calls denied by Lucas and the video assistant refere (VAR).

O'Neill's second yellow, in the 62nd minute, was for dissent.

Both will miss Central Coast's home match with Wellington on March 9 and Simon could face a longer suspension.

Mulvey, too, could be in trouble for comments he made post game.

"It looks like there's a predetermined situation where Matt Simon is a bully and he never gets a free kick because of that and it's just absolutely ridiculous," he told Fox Sports.

"You need to referee the game in the way that you see it. We just did not get anything.

"Matt didn't get anything. It's not just the first week too, it's been happening time and time again.

"... I think the referee brought a lot of the situation on himself."

Mulvey could not excuse the behaviour of Simon and O'Neill but said his Mariners side felt like "the whole world was against us."

"You don't excuse anything like that but the frustration we were feeling all the time... the sense of injustice or frustration that comes from decisions or non-decisions it can be quite overwhelming," he said.

Mulvey did, however, question why Roar goalkeeper Jamie Young returned for the Roar after his three-game suspension was reduced to two on appeal.

"The goalkeeper's made a couple of outstanding saves in the game, and why was he playing?" he said.

"He got a three-game ban and got it overturned for what?"

Australian Associated Press