Teenager Angus Thurgate scored his maiden A-League goal to give Newcastle a 3-2 win over Western Sydney at McDonald Jones Stadium.
The 19-year-old Port Macquarie product, making his 14th A-League appearance, came off the bench on Saturday evening in the 67th minute for Joey Champness and was on the spot to strike home a loose ball in the 82nd for the winner.
The result lifts the Jets to 29 points, five behind sixth-placed Adelaide, who host Wellington on Sunday, with three rounds remaining. The eighth-placed Wanderers remain on 23 points.
The Wanderers threatened early but took until the 43rd minute to score the opener. German Alexander Baumjohan earned a free kick wide on the left before finding an unmarked Rashid Mahazi for the header.
The Jets equalised in the 63rd minute when Daniel Georgievski crossed a ball from the left to find Roy O’Donovan free in front of goal. The Irishman took one touch before hitting a well-placed strike past Vedran Janjetovic.
Newcastle were ahead in strange circumstances in the 70th minute when Dimi Petratos’ corner swung in at the near post to go in off Janjetovic’s hands. The Wanderers were back on level terms just four minutes later when Keanu Baccus thumped a dipping strike from the top of the box to beat Glen Moss and go in off the crossbar.
O’Donovan had the Jets’ best chance of the first half when he jumped to kick in a cross from Champness only to deflect it wide from close range in the 30th minute.
The visitors found the net in the seventh minute through Oriol Rivera, who pounced on a rebound from a Baccus shot, but he was ruled offside.