City fell to a 1-0 deficit but showed plenty of character to swing the match in their favour, finding the back of the net on three occasions to kick-start their season.

In what is quite a young side, Saturday's display offered plenty of promise to what the club is working towards.

Director of football James Robinson said the performance gave an insight to what this group was made of.

“I'm really pleased, Robinson said.

“To go 1-0 down, talk about building character, it’s the actions that actually show that and that represents what these boys are about. I think it’s in the DNA of this part of the region, a never say die attitude, that’s one of the key ingredients.

“I can’t highlight the collective performance enough."

The victory was a positive response to last week's 4-0 round one loss to Melbourne Victory. Robinson said there will be ups and downs along the journey, but Saturday gave reason for excitement.

“As we’ve seen today, given an opportunity it will flourish.

“It’s still going to be an uphill battle, we know in development there will be peaks and troughs, but what you’re seeing is the start of something."