Marko Jesic of the Jets celebrates after scoring against the Fury. Photo / Getty Images
The Newcastle Jets have launched themselves back into the A-League top six for the first time in just under a month after defeating North Queensland 1-0 on Tuesday night.
The win was the Jets' second over the Townsville side in the space of four days.
An early goal by 21-year-old
striker Marko Jesic was all they needed to secure the valuable three points as the Jets leapfrogged Wellington and Melbourne Heart to land back in finals territory once more.
Jesic gave the Jets the perfect start in just the 12th minute after Labinot Haliti broke free down the left, leaving the Fury defence scrambling to recover.
The Kosovo-born striker then squared the ball perfectly for Jesic to slam home his strike while unmarked at the far post.
Hoping to turn their recent fortunes around, the Fury made four changes to their team from Saturday night's loss as coach Franz Straka continued his player rotation policy.
Branko Culina, meanwhile, sent out the same side that finished the game for the Jets in Townsville, with regular left-back Adam D'Apuzzo ruled out with the ankle injury he picked up during that match.
But it wouldn't take long before the home side asserted their dominance on the contest.
The Jets should have doubled their lead moments after Jesic's goal when skipper Kasey Wehrman opened North Queensland up again with a through ball finding Ruben Zadkovich in behind the defence.
The midfielder touched the ball beyond young goalkeeper Sebastian Usai before blazing the ball over the bar with the goal at his mercy.
It was the home side who would continue to create the better of the chances throughout the match, but some poor decision-making and wayward passes kept the visitors within striking distance.
To his credit, 20-year-old Usai kept the Fury in the contest with a string of fine reflex saves, including two incredible diving efforts to deny Ryan Griffiths and substitute Sasho Petrovski in the second half.
But it was not to be North Queensland's night as the league's cellar-dwellers slumped to their fifth defeat in six matches.
- AAP
