IT was a case of two steps forward, one step back, for the Newcastle Jets after a 2-0 loss to Western United at AAMI Park on Monday night.
After consecutive draws ended a seven-game losing streak, the Jets were chasing their first win since February 21. Instead they suffered their 12th defeat in 19 games this season, a result that leaves them last on the points table and under increasing pressure to avoid the fourth wooden spoon in the club's A-League history.
They are now winless in their past 10 games.
The Jets slipped to the bottom rung of the ladder on Friday night when Melbourne Victory beat Western Sydney 5-4 to climb out of the cellar for the first time in months. Monday night's defeat means that Newcastle remain a point behind Victory, who now have two games in hand.
The Jets have seven games left to salvage credibility from a campaign that started on a disastrous note, with the abrupt departures of coach Carl Robinson and club owner Martin Lee before a ball had been kicked in anger.
Adding to Newcastle's woes, the opening goal on Monday night was self-inflicted, when United winger Lachlan Wales got in behind Newcastle's defence, fired in a square ball, and Jets skipper Nikolai Topor-Stanley deflected it into his own goal.
Topor-Staney has played every minute of the the past 101 games for Newcastle and you could count on one hand how many costly mistakes he has made.
The Jets appeared to have slipped 2-0 behind in the 27th minute when Besart Berisha headed home an Alessandro Diamanti free kick, only for the linesman to rule he was off-side - a decision upheld by the VAR.
It remained 1-0 until the 69th minute when Western United's Dylan Pierias finished off after lead-up work from Berisha and Aaron Calver.
Jets coach Craig Deans bolstered his bench by recalling Nigel Boogaard, Johnny Koutroumbis and Jason Hoffman after injury lay-offs. Koutroumbis and Hoffman were second-half substitutes.
The Jets next face Melbourne City at AAMI Park on Thursday.
