The Newcastle Jets finished with a bang.
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Steve Ugarkovic produced another long-range stunner and Nick Fitzgerald scored his first goal in nearly two years as the Jets disposed of high-flyers Melbourne City 2-1 at an empty McDonald Jones Stadium on Monday night.
Football Federation Australia will hold a press conference in Sydney on Tuesday at 10am where chief executive James Johnston is expected to announce that the A-League will follow the AFL and NRL and suspend the competition.
The league was exploring relocating all the teams to NSW to finish a condensed fixture list but tightened border restrictions in New Zealand have forced the Wellington Phoenix to return home.
The latest development will mean the Jets' triumph was the last professional sporting fixture in Australia for the foreseeable future.
What a way to go out.
Fitzgerald put the Jets ahead on the stroke of halftime.
The goal was his first since the 2018 finals when he sealed a 2-0 win for City over Brisbane.
The little-used attacker collected a killer through ball from Dimi Petratos, cut inside two defenders and unleashed a left foot shot which arrowed into the top left corner.
That goal was cancelled out by City placement Florin Berenguer in the 70th minute.
But Ugarkovic ensured all three points went to the home side when he unleashed a stinging drive in the 78th minute. City keeper Tom Glover got a hand to the ball but couldn't stop it from burying in the top corner.
The goal, his fourth for the campaign, was similar to his effort against Adelaide a fortnight ago.
In a fitting touch, Jets coach Carl Robinson introduced retiring keeper Glen Moss for the final six minutes.
"It is always nice to win a game of football and the way we played was very good against a very good team," Robinson said. "They are second on the table for a reason. For the 26 players to perform like they did with what's going on, they deserve a lot of credit. We are a good team and I think we showed that tonight. It's credit to the players. Their heads were in it for 94 minutes."
The win moved the Jets to 24 points, three adrift of sixth-placed Western United, who have played one less game.
Asked if he would wonder "what if" in the likelihood that the Jets won't play another game this season, Robinson said: "I'm more worried about everyone's health and safety. I could be selfish and think about myself and the team, but I have no interest in that at the moment. It is important that we find out what is going on in the world in general."
Robinson made three changes from the torrid 1-0 loss to Brisbane at the Gold Coast on Friday.
Connor O'Toole made his Jets debut at left back, Joe Ledley came into midfield and Nick Fitzgerald started up front alongside Roy O'Donovan.
"The first 20 minutes City were on top. They dominated the ball without really hurting us," Robinson said. "Then we got a grip of it. A tackle by Stevie sent us on our way."
The Jets started to get a foot on the ball and play through the City press.
Petratos was at the centre of the Jets attack and stung the gloves of Glover in the 36th minute as the home side started to get on top.
O'Donovan produced a spectacular bicycle kick which flew just over the bar.
Finally the the goal came in stoppage time, thanks to the brilliance of Fitzgerald.
"He deserved his chance," Robinson said. "I do it on training. If you train properly, you get a chance. He was a bit tired towards the end. But I made the decision that I wanted to put Mossy on. He is genuinely good person and is going to retire at the end of the year."
The Jets continued to do well playing out from the back under pressure from City early in the second half.
Ledley was replaced after an impressive 64-minute shift by another former Premier League star in Wes Hoolahan.
City were starting to build pressure.
The equaliser came in the 70th minute. Craig Noone delivered a cross to the back post for Berenguer to head home.
Fitzgerald had a chance to regain the lead for the 77th minute but scuffed his effort from three metres.
A minute later they were in front when Ugarkovic produced another 20 metre thunderbolt.
Meanwhile, the Jets have confirmed that striker Kaine Sheppard will depart at the end of the season.
Sheppard is among nine players off contract and is not in the plans of Robinson, who is keen to add some speed to the front third.
The Englishman has made just six appearances off the bench this campaign and has not played since Robinson took the reins.
Signed at the start of last season from Victorian NPL side Avondale, Sheppard has scored five goals and provided four assists in 33 games.
The 26-year-old ruptured a ligament in his foot in pre-season in September against Sydney FC and was sidelined for nearly four months.
