'She's a winner': Coach praises Ayres as Jets appeal keeper's ban

There was euphoria and obvious relief as she brought almost 3000 roaring fans at No.2 Sportsground to their feet on Saturday with a stunning match double off the bench to seal Newcastle's crucial 3-2 win over a star-studded Melbourne Victory.

The win, which came at a cost when goalkeeper Izzy Nino was red-carded in stoppage time due to her part in an on-field melee, kept Newcastle in the finals race.

The Jets have appealed against the two-match suspension handed to Nino for violent conduct, with the aim to get the charge reclassified.

Nino will sit out the final round against Adelaide for the red card, but the Jets hope to have her available if they qualify for the finals.

The Jets No.2 keeper Kiara Rochaix is sidelined after finger surgery and coach Ryan Campbell is expected to bring in another shot-stopper on a short-term deal as cover.

Ayres' brace came in a 20-minute cameo and after a season marred by injury, concussion and illness.

"After all of the rehab this year and watching, it's just so good to be on the field and get a couple of goals in," Ayres told the Newcastle Herald.

"Even just coming here, I wanted to have an impact with the club and get the club to this point and it's been frustrating to not be able to be on the field for a lot of that.

"But I'm so glad, just seeing the fans erupt when I scored the second. Everyone had their arms in the air and it made everything feel worth it."

Ayres replaced Newcastle's leading scorer Sarina Bolden in the 71^st minute with the Jets trailing 2-1.

It was only the second appearance in eight weeks for the 24-year-old sharpshooter, who proved lethal with two clinical strikes from the edge of the 18-yard box in the 80^th then 87^th minutes.

"I've known the whole way through that Mel is going to have a big impact on the season," Jets coach Ryan Campbell said.

"Unfortunately, we haven't been able to see as much of her as we would've liked.

"I knew there would be a feeling when I made the sub and Sarina was coming off at 2-1 down that everyone would be thinking, 'Why is he taking off Sarina when we need a goal?'.

"But I could see it in Mel, from the start of the day, her body language. I knew she was just going to have one of those days.

"She's a winner. She brings that winning attitude to the team. She's been a winner at Melbourne Victory. She doesn't want to lose.

"I always had trust that she was going to come out there and she was going to make something happen. She's got that quality in her."

Ayres, who joined the Jets after several seasons with Melbourne Victory, had the eye of the tiger as soon as she set foot on the pitch.

"You have to have the confidence and I knew I'd done all the right things with rehab and getting back," Ayres said.

"Usually if I score goals, it's in a short amount of time, so I knew that I only needed 20 minutes or so to come on and have an impact.

"And, the way the girls were playing, I was just super excited to get on the field and be a part of it."

The win, which came at a cost when goalkeeper Izzy Nino was red-carded in stoppage time due to her part in an on-field melee, kept Newcastle in the finals race.

Nino was handed a two-match suspension on Monday but the Newcastle Herald understands the club have advised Football Australia it wants the matter referred to the disciplinary and ethics committee for an appeal hearing.

The Jets' No.2 goalkeeper Kiara Rochaix is sidelined with a finger injury and Campbell is expected to bring in another shot-stopper on a short-term contract as cover.

The crucial win over sixth-placed Victory came after the Jets had beaten third-placed Western United 3-1 and was the first time in five years the club had recorded back-to-back wins.

To seal a top-six spot, they must now back up the effort by beating last-placed Adelaide in Adelaide on Friday and rely on other results playing in their favour.

"Coming into this season, we knew we wanted to finish higher than they did last year but the goal has always been to make finals and win a grand final," Ayres said.

"A lot of the girls haven't been in finals, so just seeing the belief that we've had in the last two weeks, everyone is starting to believe it even more.

"It's been such an awesome two weeks with the club, just in the inner team with everything else going on, so to get these two wins is massive and it really shows that we can be a finals team and we're still in it for this year."