Lachlan Bayliss has continued his blistering run of form to move the Newcastle Jets closer to the A-League Men premiership with a 1-0 win over Macarthur.
With eight rounds of the regular season left to play, the Jets sit four points clear of Auckland after Sunday's victory at McDonald Jones Stadium.
The win was the Jets' eighth-straight victory and there's every chance Mark Milligan's men run down the record set of 10 consecutive wins set by the Western Sydney Wanderers in 2013.
The Jets face Central Coast and the Wanderers over the next fortnight before a potentially season-defining showdown with Auckland.
Bayliss has played a major part in the Jets' hot streak, the midfielder's 54th minute effort his fifth goal in as many games.
Born in Darwin, Bayliss has won junior international caps for New Zealand and said in an interview this week how eager he was to represent the All Whites at this year's World Cup.
Whether there's a chance his arm could be twisted by Australia remains to be seen, but his contribution is proving invaluable for Milligan after starting this season on the bench.
Bayliss' goal came after a tense first half where both sides failed to take their chances.
Macarthur coach Mile Sterjovski had dropped goalkeeper Filip Kurto for Young Socceroos representative Alex Robinson.
The Bulls' new No.1 looked assured between the sticks and he was not at fault when Macarthur failed to clear Bayliss' shot and the midfielder struck in from the edge of the box with a follow-up.
Bayliss' confidence was clearly high by the fact he tried an audacious long-range effort to lob Robinson soon after his goal.
Robinson avoided calamity and Macarthur boss Sterjovski threw Mitch Duke and Luke Brattan, who both started on the bench after their midweek exploits in the Asian Champions League Two, on in search of an equaliser.
But the Bulls came up empty and are now winless in their last five games and sit sixth.
