Some days are diamonds, some days are stones. Hmm, there is a song in that, and it summed up the Jets' important and courageous win at Western United on Saturday evening.
More than that, it provides an almost perfect picture of two contrasting halves of football, and a reminder that, like in golf, you record a score but it is not always a glowing assessment of what transpired.
The Jets, with a number of players absent, were absolutely excellent in the first half, in a number of ways. Tactically Ernie Merrick got it just right. Newcastle stopped United building up from the back, forced countless turnovers in midfield, and attacked with pace and purpose, and no shortage of precision, in transition.
Of course, every astute plan requires carrying out, and here the Jets players must get a great deal of credit.
Their application, positioning and understanding of a slightly different approach was first class, and they bossed the first half, with and without the ball.
Western United have two very capable penalty-box strikers in Besart Berisha and Scott McDonald, but they were forced to play 40 or 50 metres from goal in the opening half, and as a result had little impact.
Wing-backs Josh Risdon and Conor Pain, who normally provide the running to turn defences around, were constantly pushed back by a relentless press.
The one player who looked likely to unlock the Jets control was United skipper Alessandro Diamanti, whose pedigree, class and quality make him a red-alert opponent, whenever he is near the ball.
He very nearly dragged his side back into the contest on numerous occasions in the second half.
But before we get to the second stanza, it's fair to say that, but for an additional goal or two, the Jets' first half was everything they had planned, and could have hoped for. Maintaining the physical commitment to press that way for 90 minutes has proven to be almost impossible for any A-League side, historically, and even in the chill of a cool Geelong evening, most doubted the Jets would be able to maintain the rage.
If the first half seemed to be diamonds, all wind at the back, full speed ahead, passes sticking, timing perfect, and so on, the second was almost the polar opposite, except for one vital statistic - no goals were conceded.
The Jets, with a number of players absent, were absolutely excellent in the first half.
It could well have been "stones " in the second half. United got more proactive, the Jets had to defend much deeper as their opponent risked possession by playing forward earlier, and as a result nipping Newcastle counter-attacks in their infancy higher up the pitch.
But the Jets as a group refused to yield, and in the grand scheme of things, that is just as important as playing with fluency and verve.
We often talk about good foundations in football, and I'm yet to find one more important than a clean sheet on match day.
Ask a Mariners fan. They haven't had one since, I don't know, Michelle Payne had a day to remember on a certain first Tuesday in November!
OK, that's a slight exaggeration, but I bet it feels that way to their supporters.
Sure, the VAR made a crucial intervention, but applied a justified conclusion, and Glen Moss had an inspired second half in Newcastle's goal, but he would be honest enough to acknowledge that he owed the team one this season.
He was just doing his job, albeit to a very high standard. Jets fans need scant reminding of how goalkeeping heroics and a clean sheet can impact the biggest of occasions.
In 10 years' time most of us, with the exception of Angus and the Thurgate family, will have forgotten the details of this match, but I can tell you it was massively important for confidence and belief.
Perhaps the sub-editor understood that, like Frankie Dettori, I felt like crying after the Melbourne Cup, and it made my musings a touch sombre in last weeks column, because he or she left out a reasonably dark thought.
Relax, I'm not off the punt (Kyneton Cup day can be so therapeutic on the Wednesday), but I had pointed out that should an under-strength Jets lose to Western United, then have their second bye in seven rounds of the A-League, they would be facing a round-eight home clash with the Wanderers with two points next to their name, and mounting scoreboard pressure to bridge the gap to the leaders.
Thankfully, and I think deservedly, that is not the equation facing the Jets, and four points from six in the past two fixtures is well deserved. More importantly perhaps it was well thought out tactically, and well earned on both match days.
You'd imagine a very happy and positive crew lining up, with fuel tanks full, for the visit of the Wanderers on Saturday week.
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