Newcastle Jets captain Cassidy Davis on what it meant to score her first-ever A-League goal in a 3-2 win over Wellington Phoenix at No.2 Sportsground on March 25, 2023

The jubilant Jets faithful were brought to their feet as Newcastle's fearless leader sealed a come-from-behind 3-2 win over Wellington in the 82^nd minute at No.2 Sportsground on Saturday afternoon.

The applause was still ringing out well after the game restarted with the supporters knowing how much it meant to Davis, who was determined to send off retiring long-time teammates Tara Andrews and Claire Coelho with a win in their final home game.

The round-19 match also marked Lauren Allan's 50^th appearance.

"It's great to score but getting the win is so much better and I wanted to do it for Tars, Loz and Coelho," Davis said.

The 28-year-old defensive midfielder debuted for her home-town team in November, 2013 and has not missed a game since to hold the A-League record of 128 consecutive appearances.

Davis scores goals for fun at a local level but until Saturday had never been able to find the back of the net for the Jets.

She has been threatening all season, though, with a range of near-misses from long range, and came close to scoring in the first half on Saturday with a shot from the top of the box in the 39^th minute that curled away from the far post but was poked in for a goal by Allan.

That cancelled out Marisa van der Meer's 26th-minute effort which gave Phoenix a 1-0 lead.

Paige Satchell restored the one-goal advantage for the visitors in the 53rd minute but Jets substitute Ash Brodigan put her team back on level terms in the 64^th.

Enter Davis. Rarely seen surging forward into the box at this level, the Jets' captain courageous took matters into her own hands with regulation time fast running out.

Determined not to let this one get away, Davis played a neat one-two passing combination with Murphy Agnew then stepped inside Satchell and buried the ball into the roof of Phoenix's goal from close range.

"I probably surprised myself," Davis said later.

"Murph and I combined and then I was thinking, 'She's close to me; if I hit it with my left foot, she's probably going to block it', and the angle was tight. So, I thought I'd cut back onto my right and hopefully fool her, and it did. Then I thought, 'Just lace it and hit it as hard as I can,' and it went in.

"I was pretty happy but it's still disappointing where we are on the table and our season. It's been a very up and down season and a very inconsistent season.

"I pretty much say it every year but we've got to be better. We've got to build on it."

The win, just their fourth in 17 outings, moved Newcastle to 14 points and five points clear of last-placed Phoenix (nine).

"We spoke about that all week, obviously knowing where we'd be if we did lose," Davis said.

"[Coach] Gary [van Egmond] and the staff drilled that into us, that we've got to fight hard today and harder than we probably ever have, and I knew all the girls could do it. We've got that in us.

"We're from Newcastle. We play for Newcastle. We went down twice but we bounced back and you could see that the girls wanted it."

The Jets close their 2022-23 campaign away to second-placed Sydney (34), who were 3-0 winners over Adelaide (18) on Saturday.

They cannot finish any higher than 10^th position but are aiming for another three points in their final outing.

"There's definitely positives and you can see that we can play football and we can fight hard," Davis said.

"But, again, it's just that consistency, so hopefully after this win we can give Sydney a big run for their money.

"They're a great team and we won't take that away from them, but we want to get three points and prepare for next season."

Wellington have two games left - Adelaide on Tuesday then Melbourne Victory (27) next Saturday.

Canberra (28) kept their top-four hopes alive with a 3-0 victory against leaders Western United (36) on Saturday.

Canberra were docked three points for using an illegal substitution in a 2-1 win over Sydney (34) on February 11 but had the points reinstated last week after Football Australia overturned the decision.

They have a final-round showdown with Melbourne City (29), who play Perth (22) in Perth on Sunday night, looming.

Victory (27) were set to play Brisbane (17) on Sunday afternoon and could regain fourth position with a win over the Roar.

IN THE NEWS:

To see more stories and read today's paper download the Newcastle Herald news app here.