Late inclusion Kosta Grozos's first A-League Men goal has helped extend Newcastle's unbeaten run to five matches with a 2-1 home win over Melbourne Victory.
Grozos was named among the Jets' substitutes at McDonald Jones Stadium on Sunday but was promoted to the starting line-up when Reno Piscopo suffered a groin injury during the warm-up.
The 22-year-old grabbed his chance and netted what proved to be the winner from a well-executed set play in the 58th minute.
Beka Mikeltadze stood over the free kick and slid a short pass to Grozos, who turned and made the visitors' flat-footed defence pay with a neat finish.
It restored Newcastle's lead just seven minutes after Victory winger Nishan Velupillay had cancelled out Mikeltadze's first-half opener.
The result left Victory still sitting last on the ladder, while Newcastle are knocking on the door of the top six.
Victory were left to rue sloppy defending that led to both Jets goals, with the opener coming when Roderick Miranda brought down Jaushua Sotirio with a clumsy tackle in the box.
Mikeltadze converted his penalty in the 37th minute, keeping his cool after strong wind kept blowing the ball off the spot and delaying proceedings.
Victory equalised after the break when Velupillay cut in from the right and squeezed a low left-foot shot past Newcastle goalkeeper Jack Duncan.
But Tony Popovic's side were undone by their own poor marking at a set piece, allowing Grozos too much space.
Victory striker Bruno Fornaroli thought he'd levelled the score again but had his close-range finish ruled out for offside.
Fornaroli also missed a gilt-edged chance in the first half, failing to get a boot on a tap-in chance after Jake Brimmer rolled a neat pass across the front of goal.
Jets defender Matt Jurman breathed a sigh of relief after his turnover on the edge of his own box led to the chance.
There was late controversy when Victory had a stoppage-time penalty shout turned down after Jets goalkeeper Jack Duncan went through the back of Bruce Kamau in an aerial contest.
Kamau made first contact with the ball as Duncan attempted to punch it away.
The offside flag had gone up but replays showed no Victory players were offside when the cross came in.
There was no further action after VAR checks, leaving Popovic and Victory officials incensed.
