Canadian Tyrone Mulder again provided a goal and Brodie Volkienne rose to the challenge in goals as Valentine put another dent in Lambton Jaffas' NPL NNSW premiership defence.
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Phoenix defeated Jaffas 1-0 at Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility in a catch-up game on Wednesday night - 10 days after shocking them 2-1 with a last-gasp free kick from Nick Cowburn.
The wins have lifted eighth-placed Valentine to 22 points, just behind Edgeworth (22 points), Weston (23) and Newcastle Olympic (24) in the race for the top five. They also have a game in hand on Edgeworth and Olympic, and two on Weston, who were rocked 5-0 at home by Cooks Hill (12) on Wednesday night.
Mulder, who scored the opener against Jaffas on July 17, was on the end of a Ryan Clarke cross in the 59th minute to give Valentine the edge at LMRFF.
The slick Jaffas attack had their chances, reeling off six shots on target, but teenage keeper Volkienne stood tall. Nathan Verity went closest for Lambton, hitting the crossbar in the 87th minute.
Valentine coach Adam Hughes said his team "got their reward for the hard work they put in" and he was pleased to see Mulder and Volkienne play key roles.
"Tyrone has done well," Hughes said. "When you move to a different country, it always takes time to settle in, with living arrangements and everything else, and I think he's settled in really well now to the lifestyle here and work. I think he's enjoying himself.
"Jaffas have a strikeforce that can hurt any team, but Brodie has been doing fantastic. It's something I like, having young keepers in my team, to give them the exposure and development at a young age, you can see how they can grow into that position."
The defeats have left fourth-placed Jaffas on 26 points, seven off leaders Charlestown (33) but with three games in hand. Charlestown stayed clear at the top with a 1-1 draw thanks to a stoppage-time goal from Nigel Boogaard against a 10-man Maitland (30) at Cooks Square Park on Wednesday night.
The Magpies, already without James Thompson (away), lost defender Zach Thomas to a second yellow card in the 39th minute but they looked set to defy the odds after Ty Cousins brought down a free kick and fired a shot to score in the 60th.
Boogaard, though, struck a 92nd-minute equaliser through traffic after a rebounded chance from a corner fell his way.
At Weston, Cooks Hill turned the tables on the Bears, who won their first clash this year 5-0. Sam Webb scored a double, pouncing on a mishit clearance from keeper Stuart Plant in the 11th minute and burying a back-post finish in the 32nd. Riley McNaughton found the top-left corner with a shot in the 28th. A Jamie Byrnes header (77th) and Adam Sherratt strike (95th) capped the rout.
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