The win lifted Newcastle to 25 points on the competition ladder, five points adrift of sixth-placed Wellington Phoenix, with six games to play.

But the Jets have games in hand on fourth-placed Sydney (three) and fifth-placed Adelaide (two), who are both sitting on 31 points and can potentially be overtaken if Newcastle continue racking up wins.

The Jets also have a better goal differential than both Sydney and Adelaide.

Boosted by the return from suspension of Brazilian import Daniel Penha, Newcastle were in ruthless mood against last-placed Perth, who had a host of key personnel unavailable.

They led 3-0 at half-time after a double from Georgian international striker Beka Mikeltadze and one goal from Penha.

Jets coach Arthur Papas called last week for match officials to protect Penha from tactical fouls, and his warning was validated in the 13^th minute when the diminutive playmaker was upended in a wild challenge from teenage Perth striker Jayden Gorman, making his A-League debut.

Gorman received a yellow card but was lucky he was not sent off, after the incident was reviewed by the VAR.

Penha produced the perfect response 11 minutes later when he opened the scoring with a clinical finish, after classy lead-up play from Savvas Siatravanis and Valentino Yuel.

Mikeltadze then scored back-to-back goals in the 31^st and 37^th minutes, and 10 minutes into the second half, Penha struck again with a quality finish to make it 4-0.

Perth pegged one back through Ciaran Bramwell in the 69^th minute, then Mikeltadze completed a hat-trick two minutes later with a penalty, taking his season tally to 12, second only to Melbourne City Socceroo Jamie Maclaren (14). Yuel made it 6-1 in the 81^st minute.

The Jets have now scored 36 goals in 20 games this season. Only competition leaders Melbourne City (52 goals in 24 games) have found the net more often.

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