Newcastle have kept their A-League Women’s finals hopes alive with an utterly dominant 8-0 thrashing of bottom side Adelaide United at Coopers Stadium.
The win lifts the Jets into fifth spot, level on 33 points with sixth-placed Western Sydney Wanderers and seventh-ranked Melbourne Victory.
Wanderers face-off against Wellington on Saturday while Victory play league leader Sydney FC on Sunday, with a loss to either Western Sydney or Victory ensuring finals football for Newcastle.
Jets coach Ryan Campbell said his side faced a nervous wait over the weekend.
“We always knew three weeks ago that we had to win our last three games and then it was going to come down to other teams’ results,” he said.
“Hopefully we’re lucky enough to extend our season by a little bit longer.”
The Jets started brightly and had the first chance on eight minutes, but it was debutant keeper Tiahna Robertson who starred for Newcastle.
Signed as an injury replacement from the NSW NPL competition just days earlier, Robertson produced three stunning saves to deny Adelaide and keep the scores locked at 0-0.
On the quarter hour, she tipped over a powerful shot from just outside the area by Isobel Hodgson, before denying Chelsie Dawber with a brilliant diving save on 23 minutes.
Almost immediately after, Robertson got down low to her right to keep out Hodgson again as the Reds squandered another one-v-one.
The Reds would rue their missed opportunities as the Jets broke the deadlock on 27 minutes.
MelindaJ Barbieri launched a long free kick which Adelaide failed to clear. The rebound rolled to Newcastle skipper Cassidy Davis, whose first time left-footed effort from the top of the box was too powerful for Adelaide keeper Annalee Grove.
The Jets doubled their lead on 42 minutes when Lara Gooch waltzing unaccompanied down the right wing and into the Reds' penalty area, before cutting inside and firing past Grove from close range.
United conceded a third in first half injury time when Lauren Allan pounced on a poor goal kick from Grove and slid the ball beyond United’s keeper.
Within 90 seconds of the restart, Newcastle added a fourth as Gooch grabbed her second. Sarina Bolden flicked on for Gooch, who took a touch past her opponent before picking out the bottom corner from 18 yards.
Emma Dundas made it 5-0 in the 57th minute, collecting Gooch's cross from the right, evading a tackle to find acres of space on the edge of the area and rifling a shot past Grove.
Substitute Melina Ayres, introduced just before the hour, latched onto a long ball from Lorena Baumann on 62 minutes, took it past Grove with her first touch before tucking it away.
Ayres made it 7-0 with her second on 70 minutes, dispossessing Dylan Holmes before launching a left-footed missile from 30 metres that gave Reds substitute keeper Grace Wilson no chance.
Substitute Alexandra Huynh iced the win in injury time with the Jets’ eighth, curling an effort from outside the area.
