A-League Men strugglers Newcastle will finish their year on a high thanks to a masterclass by Trent Buhagiar in their 2-0 triumph over Western United.
With their sights set on making play-offs, the eighth-placed Jets could not settle for anything less than three points at McDonald Jones Stadium on Saturday.
Buhagiar made sure of that, drawing first blood at the eighth minute, before netting his second less than 15 minutes later.
Completely uncontested by the two United defenders near him, the 25-year-old pulled off an excellent header after receiving a cross from Dane Ingham.
However, it was his second goal that set the stadium alight.
After picking up the ball just outside the box in his own half following an opposition corner, Buhagiar flaunted his speed in a full-field slice down the right wing untagged.
Teammate Thomas Aquilin kept pace to accompany Buhagiar, but the Gosford local decided to go it alone.
Western United defender Ben Garuccio tried to herd the Newcastle forward, but, after a second of hesitation, Buhagiar lobbed it past goalkeeper Tom Heward-Belle to secure his second.
Noah Botic found the back of the net in the 33rd minute to keep the visitors in the game, but he was offside.
The win marks the Jets' first victory at home of the season and condemns the visitors to their fifth straight defeat on the road.
It is also the eighth time bottom-placed Western United have conceded the opening goal in their past 10 matches.
"We lost it in the first 20 minutes. That's the disappointing part because it looked like we were scared," Western United coach John Aloisi said.
"I understand when things aren't going your way in terms of results, your players can get nervous and anxious, but we don't need to be.
"We had to be two goals down to start playing.
"Sometimes it can be in their head, that (they think) 'we have to win, we have to win' - you have to perform.
"And then when you perform, the results should come."
The hosts were down to 10 men in the 58th minute after prolific Newcastle goalscorer Apostolos Stamatelopoulos received a second yellow card for a bad foul on teenage defender Kane Vidmar.
Stamatelopoulos showed immediate regret and raised his hand in apology, but his fate was sealed.
The 24-year-old had been close to adding another on the scoreboard just minutes earlier when Heward-Belle ran way off his mark to leave the goal empty.
It was Stamatelopoulos's reluctance that allowed Heward-Belle time to save the attempt.
Despite the one-man advantage, Western United could not score in the remaining time, dogged by loose structure and poor precision.
Aloisi will be sweating on the fitness of Riku Danzaki after the Japanese midfielder walked off the field in the first half with a dislocated shoulder.
