Newcastle went down fighting 4-2 against a quality Melbourne City line-up at McDonald Jones Stadium on Tuesday night.
The defending A-League champions had a 10-day break before the catch-up game, which was Newcastle's third in nine days and came after a gutsy 2-1 victory over Brisbane in atrocious conditions last Thursday night.
Jamie Maclaren scored a double for the visitors, while fellow Socceroo Matthew Leckie and Frenchman Florin Berenguer had one each.
City led 1-0 at halftime but were then 3-0 up in the 56th minute.
Newcastle were given a lift in the 59th minute when half-time substitute Valentino Yuel was fouled by Scott Galloway on the edge of the area and Beqa Mikeltadze converted from the spot for 3-1.
But City were soon out to a three-goal lead again when Connor Metcalfe's long-range strike deflected in off a Jets player then Maclaren to give keeper Jack Duncan no chance. The goal was credited to Maclaren, putting him back on top of the league scoring list with seven.
Angus Thurgate, who scored the winner for Newcastle on Thursday night, struck in the 84th minute to provide a glimmer of hope. Daniel Penha provided the ball in for Thurgate, who showed touch and strength to bring it down and shoot on the turn for 4-2.
The win lifted City to second on 16 points after 10 games. Newcastle are 10th on eight after eight. The Jets face another stern test away to fourth-placed Melbourne Victory on Saturday.
On Tuesday night, Leckie and Penha threatened twice each with shots in the opening 15 minutes but the visitors quickly gained the ascendancy.
Maclaren went down in the box under pressure from Jordan O'Doherty but the referee booked the City striker for simulation, even after reviewing the call on video.
The Jets, who had stalwart Jason Hoffman playing his 250th A-League game, lost skipper Matt Jurman in the 28th minute after an ankle injury from a clash with Maclaren.
Riley Warland came on at the back for Jurman and his desperate attempt in the 40th minute was not enough to stop a class goal from City.
Former Jet Andrew Nabbout sliced into the box and found former Newcastle junior Metcalfe, whose cutback was slotted home by Berenguer, despite a last touch from Warland.
The Jets lifted for the final minutes of the half as Penha's swerving free kick was saved and another of his shots went wide.
City, though, came out firing in the second half as Maclaren was just wide in the 47th and a corner kick went close in the 50th. The pressure quickly told as Maclaren slotted a finish inside the right post off a great touch and pass from Berenguer in the 52nd.
It was 3-0 four minutes later as Maclaren then teed up Leckie for a one-on-one finish after a sloppy turnover from the Jets.
Leading scorer Mikeltadze returned after being rested for the win over Roar. Sam Silvera and Dylan Murnane were promoted to the starting side, while Savvas Siatravanis dropped back to the bench and Eli Babalj and Dane Ingham were omissions after starting against Brisbane. Warland was added to the bench.
Newcastle Jets lose 1-0 to Melbourne Victory in A-League Women
The Newcastle Jets put up a brave fight but were not able to stage a late comeback in a 1-0 loss to Melbourne Victory in A-League Women at McDonald Jones Stadium on Tuesday night.
The Victory were dominant in the first half and had numerous chances on goal, but the breakthrough did not come until American Brooke Hendrix scored with a header off Polly Doran's free kick in the 55th minute.
Newcastle finished stronger than they started but could not find an equaliser.
The result elevated fourth-placed Victory to 18 points and left Newcastle in sixth with nine points as they look to play their third game in 10 days when they host unbeaten league leaders Sydney (25) at No.2 Sportsground on Sunday.
The Jets went into the match without experienced duo Hannah Brewer and Tara Andrews due to COVID-related isolation and with several players battling illness.
The club also confirmed on Tuesday that forward Sunny Franco had been ruled out for the rest of the season with an ankle injury.
Norwegian international Marie Dolvik Markussen was limited to just the last 16 minutes of the game as she continues to recover from COVID, and steely centre-back Taren King watched from the bench due to illness.
Jets coach Ash Wilson was forced to make three changes to her starting side ahead of the crucial clash.
Defender Tiana Jaber and midfielders Lucy Johnson and Bethany Gordon started in place of Brewer, Dolvik Markussen and King, and there were several positional changes.
In comparison, Melbourne welcomed the return of defender Courtney Nevin and midfielder Kyra Cooney-Cross from Matildas duties for the game.
Cooney-Cross was a constant menace down the right flank and created numerous scoring opportunities for Melbourne.
Jets goalkeeper Claire Coelho produced another strong performance to keep the scoreline respectable. She palmed away Catherine Zimmerman's volley in the 20th minute then stopped Maja Markovski's close-range effort with her shins in the 42nd.
Cooney-Cross put a shot across the face of goal in the 37th and Alexandra Chidiac hit the woodwork for Victory in the 42nd.
Coelho denied a long-range effort from Chidiac over the bar four minutes after the goal came.
Sophie Harding gave Newcastle their best chance of the first half when her right-footed shot from inside the left edge of the 18-yard box was parried away by Casey Dumont.
The second-half injections of Dolvik Markussen and Lauren Allan, who came back into the squad after missing Newcastle's 3-0 loss to Adelaide in Adelaide last Friday due to an ankle complaint, sparked the Jets attack.
Sixteen-year-old Lara Gooch replaced Jets co-captain Gema Simon in the 74th minute and made some impressive plays in her ALW debut.
