They had their chances, but luck seemed to desert the Wellington Phoenix on Sunday.
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The side remains winless since moving to Wollongong in November, falling 2-1 to the Jets in front of more than 1700 supporters at WIN Stadium. The result comes on the back of their round one loss to Sydney FC and a 1-1 draw with Macarthur FC.
Dynamic duo Valentino Yuel and Roy O'Donovan found the back of the net as Newcastle claimed their first points of the A-League season after four straight losses. Captain Ulises Davila mustered a consolation late goal for Wellington.
It was a game where the Phoenix dominated possession, forced plenty of corners and had more than shots on goal. However, luck mainly evaded the team.
"It was a frustrating night," Wellington head coach Ufuk Talay said. "I think, overall, we had about 28 shots and we created some good chances but we weren't clinical in the box. If you don't score goals, you don't win games.
"We got hit on transition a couple of times. I think the second goal, we could have dealt with a lot better. We had three players go at the ball and didn't track the runner, and I think a poor decision by 'Stef' [goalkeeper Stefan Marinovic] made it easier for him to tap it in.
"Overall, we created enough chances to get ourselves back into the game, even when we were 2-0 down. So we're disappointed with the result."
Conversely, the Jets were clinical in attack, particularly Yuel and O'Donovan, while gloveman Jack Duncan was superb at the other end.
It was great reward for interim coach Craig Deans, who claimed his first win since stepping into the role after Carl Robinson's controversial pre-season departure.
"I'm obviously very relieved for the players and the club, and the staff. We've been working hard for 12 weeks now and haven't had much reward," he said.
"Tonight was probably our worst performance of the season in terms of the football we played. But the most important thing is getting the three points.
"Every week, over the last four weeks, the attitude in terms of the change rooms has been amazing. At training, win or lose or draw, their attitude has been great. I'm happy for them and I was proud to coach them tonight."
The Phoenix had started positively and were able to force several opportunities. However, they could't find that early breakthrough.
It would prove costly.
On the counter-attack, Roy O'Donovan put through a beautiful ball for Valentino Yuel, who beat opponent Joshua Laws for pace and slid the ball into the net as the Jets led 1-0 after nine minutes.
However, Wellington nearly had a quick reply when Luke DeVere rose highest from a corner, but his header was well stopped by Jets goalkeeper Jack Duncan.
The Phoenix continue to press hard with Ulises Davila winding up from outside the box, but his shot hit the post and bounced away. At the other end, Yuel continued to look dangerous. A nice cross in the 20th minute saw Yuel lurking close to goal, but Laws was able to clear the ball away.
The next best chance didn't come until around the half-hour mark, when Wellington's Cameron Devlin lined it up from outside the box. However, his shot was again denied by Duncan. On the counter-attack, Connor O'Toole put in a nice cross for O'Donovan, but his shot went over the cross bar.
The Phoenix were able to find an overlap situation at the other end, with Jaushua Sotirio taking a long-range shot that was just too high.
While the Phoenix had more shots, it was the visitors who continued to really threaten in attack. From a corner, O'Donovan went high for a flick on, but his shot was just wide.
The game continued to move from end-to-end for the rest of the half. Despite having less possession - and conceding eight corners - Newcastle led 1-0 at the break.
The Jets looked electric straight after half-time, with O'Donovan finding space behind the defenders, but his attempt swayed wide. Wellington moved the ball up the other end, with a flying James McGarry lining up for goal. But, again, his shot was just off target.
Soon after, the ball found David Ball's head from a corner, but the ball hit the post and bounced away.
But, similar to the first half, it was Newcastle who hit the scoreboard early. A nice pass from Yuel found Steven Urgarkovic, and his wonderful through-ball led to O'Donovan beating the goalkeeper one-on-one to score and take a 2-0 lead in the 50th minute.
The Phoenix continued to press hard, but became more desperate in attack. They did have some nice half-chances, including a low-range attempt by Sotirio which was stopped by Duncan.
Wellington's next best chance came in the 64th minute when Ball put through a low cross which found Tim Payne, whose shot skidded past the goal post. Minutes later, Sotirio found Davila who trapped the ball and shot, but his attempt was wide.
The Phoenix were pressing hard up the ground, with players queuing up in attack. But the Jets - led by Duncan - continued to stand firm.
On the counter-attack, Newcastle continued to prove a huge threat. Some nice passing led to O'Donovan firing a shot in the 72nd minute, but it was just too high.
Payne appeared to have finally found a goal three minutes later, but his cross just missed the boot of substitute Mirza Muratovic.
On the counter-attack, once again, Newcastle were able to put a dangerous through-ball for Yuel, but his attempt swayed wide.
Soon after, from a corner, the ball spilled to Jets veteran Nigel Boogard, whose bicycle attempt was swatted away by Phoenix gloveman Stefan Marinovic.
As the clock ticked down to the final 10 minutes, the moment finally arrived for Wellington to score when Devlin was dragged down inside the box by Connor O'Toole. A VAR review confirmed the referee's decision to award a spot kick.
Davila stepped up to take the shot, finally finding the back of the net to cut the deficit to 2-1.
The Phoenix continued to press hard, with the ball finding Muratovic on the overlap. However, his shot was well stopped by Duncan. In the 90th minute, Clayton Lewis's free kick found a flying Ben Waine, but his header was just wide.
The ball continued to move end-to-end in the dying minutes, but the Jets were able to hold on for a 2-1 victory.
While unhappy with the result, Talay said his players would learn from the game.
"I think we could have dealt with the transition a lot better," he said.
"But I think we need to get better and the boys will work on their finishing this week. If they're hungry, they might actually hit the back of the net. That's something we can definitely improve on because we can't go through games where we created a lot of opportunities and not score, and don't reward ourselves."