Keep it up. That was the message from caretaker coach Ash Wilson as the Newcastle Jets eyed a sixth place finish after producing a consistent performance to beat Adelaide 2-0 at McDonald Jones on Saturday night.
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The win was Newcastle's first at home this season and only second for their 2019-20 campaign.
The Jets and Reds went into the match sharing last place on four points. A 4-2 loss to Perth in their previous outing had taken Newcastle from mathematically being able to still make finals to languishing on the bottom of the table. But the win elevated them to seven points and seventh place. They moved ahead of Perth (five points) and within three points of Canberra (10).
"The message to the girls was you have to do this for yourselves because you've had one of those seasons where you may not deserve to be on the bottom, but that is where they were sitting coming into this game and only they could get themselves out of it, so I was really happy with their response tonight," Wilson told the Newcastle Herald after the match on Saturday night.
Canberra are the only side Newcastle can catch with two rounds remaining and Wilson said it was achievable if they continued to show the same determination, consistency and creative flair as they did against Adelaide.
"It was a bit of an arm wrestle at times but we had some really good passages of play where we were able to control the game," Wilson said.
"When we were composed on the ball and we were switching and then finding our opportunities to play forward, I thought we looked alright. The challenge is to keep being consistent with that."
Tara Andrews came close to scoring in the first half with a left-footed volley from outside the box that rattled the crossbar and with a header off a corner. The breakthrough came from the penalty spot in the 52nd minute after Adelaide's Amber Brooks was deemed to have handled the ball in the box. Andrews stepped up and coolly slotted past goalkeeper Sarah Willacy, who dove to her left.
Substitute Renee Pountney made it 2-0 in the 78th minute. Teigan Collister's textbook cross from the right found Pountney unmarked in the box to take a touch then bury the ball past an advancing Willacy.
"Tara was composed at the penalty spot and then it was a really good finish from Renee after a really nice cross from Teigan, so that's two games in a row now where we've scored goals in general play, which is nice, and I'd want to see that a little more," Wilson said. "But overall, positive signs."
The Jets' next outing is when they host fourth-placed Melbourne Victory (17) at No.2 Sportsground on February 23.
