Newcastle have kept their A-League Women season alive and ended their 2022 on a high by downing Adelaide United 1-0 at the No.2 Sportsground.
Entering the round with just a single win across the season's opening third, the Jets' risked falling irrevocably out of touch with the league's top four with a defeat against the visiting Reds, who were looking to shore up their spot in the finals places on Saturday afternoon.
But despite the South Australians creating a host of shots up the other end before their breakthrough, a second-half brace from Lauren Allen secured the Jets a first home win in over a year.
Suffering just their second defeat of the season, the result was a disappointment for the Reds, who failed to find a breakthrough against a Newcastle side that had been conceding three goals a game so far.
Maruschka Waldus headed a corner from MelindaJ Barbieri over the bar in the seventh minute, while Fiona Worts had a glancing header go wide in the 21st.
A ricocheting ball almost provided an unlikely breakthrough in the 28th minute but defender Cannon Clough was able to scramble back and clear it off the line.
Worts dinked an effort over Worth's head in first-half added time but the Jets' keeper was saved by the crossbar.
Keeping the pressure on, substitute Emilia Murray and then Emily Hodgson both tried their luck early in the second half, only for Allen to hit them on the hour after she was played through by Cass Davis and hammered in an effort Annalee Grove couldn't keep out.
Adelaide opened up and pushed hard for a leveller in response, but the space that they left open behind them was again exploited by Allen when Tara Andrews played her through for her second.
