A-League: Newcastle 0 Wellington 1

Wellington Phoenix moved into third spot on the A-League table after beating the Newcastle Jets 1-0 on Friday.

Wellington right-back Manny Muscat was the unlikely hero with a goal in the 58th minute as the Phoenix showed their premiership potential with a gritty performance to match their late 1-0 win over the Gold Coast in Queensland last week.

The win sees the Phoenix move to 27 points, just one behind Brisbane, while the Jets remain in ninth spot on 18 points after collecting just one point from their past three matches.

After a scoreless first half, the game started to open up after the break and it was only a matter of time before a goal eventuated and it came the way of the visitors just before the hour mark.

Ifill showed good vision to find Manny Muscat wide on the right and he jinked back inside Byun and fashioned a lovely looping left foot shot that beat a diving Kennedy into the corner of the net for a 1-0 lead.

The visitors should have sealed the match in the 82nd minute when Ifill streaked down the left wing on a counter-attack before sending a brilliant cross into an unmarked Sanchez in front of goal but the Spaniard somehow missed the target from 12 yards out.

The Jets poured forward desperately in the final minutes but the Phoenix defence remained solid and composed to stand firm and record another important away win.