“There are a lot of better ways to do (win) than that but we know football doesn't work like that sometimes,” said Jackson. “We made it hard for ourselves, a lot of moments when we look back, we won't be happy with. 

“But when you're in a competition like this, you have to win games. The boys on the pitch dug deep and found a way to win. Sometimes you get the performance, other times like this you have to fight and get the result.

“It's a real positive for us as a club. It's an honour to be in this competition and progressing through.”

This match at Campbelltown Stadium came to life late in the second half as the teams traded goals in the final 10 minutes of normal time, Angel Torres opening the score for Mariners on 81 minutes only for Ulises Davila to pull Macarthur level seven minutes later.

Both teams were evenly matched in extra time after Mikael Doka cancelled out Lachlan Rose’s goal before Barcellos’s late intervention sealed a meeting against India’s Odisha FC for the Mariners.

Macarthur head coach Mile Sterjovski was pleased with the response his team showed but admitted mistakes put paid to their hopes of advancing.

“It was a tough game as we thought it would be, a great one for the spectators,” said the 44-year-old.

“It was a game of two halves, we weren't at the races in the first half but we came back into it in the second half. 

“But in the end, we gave the ball away at crucial times and that cost us.”