A-League wrap: Newcastle leave it late

Newcastle United extended their unbeaten run to five games as they pulled off an against-the-run-of-play 2-0 win over North Queensland Fury on Saturday.

Despite being on the back foot for most of the A-League clash, two late goals took the resurgent Jets to within one point of the top six.

But for much of the contest it looked like the Fury would continue their unbeaten sequence and climb off the bottom of the table.

Newcastle’s Nick Topor-Stanley opened the scoring in the 77th minute when he rose above the Fury defence from a Kasey Wherman corner.

Sacho Petrovski scored an injury-time second goal, sparking mass celebrations.

In the earlier game, the Central Coast Mariners thrashed Sydney FC 4-0 at Bluetongue Stadium.

The Mariners bounced back from last week’s 5-1 drubbing by league leaders Brisbane Roar to inflict Sydney’s first loss in five games.

Three goals in the first 23 minutes, including two in the first five minutes, set up the Mariners for the much-needed victory.

Strike pairing Adam Kwasnik and Matt Simon scored the early goals, giving the Mariners their first win in five matches.

Kwasnik made it 3-0 with the simplest of tap-ins and an own goal by Sydney’s Sebastian Ryall in the first minute of the second half capped a forgettable night for last season’s champions.

The heavy loss leaves Sydney struggling to stay in touch with the top six as they prepare for Tuesday’s AFC Champions League draw.