THE unthinkable prospect of consecutive wooden spoons is a stronger possibility after the Newcastle Jets slumped to a 3-0 loss to Wellington at Westpac Stadium last night.
In a game the Jets needed to win to climb out of the A-League cellar and close the three-point gap between themselves and the top six, they were comprehensively outplayed and fortunate not to lose more heavily.
Newcastle remain last on the table with 13 points from 13 games.
They are level with Brisbane but have the worst goal difference in the league minus nine to the Roar's minus five.
Wellington, who were also on 13 points before last night's match, climbed to sixth with their win, displacing Adelaide from the top six on for and against.
With 14 games remaining, the Jets still have time to resurrect their campaign.
And the competition is so even that back-to-back wins will propel any team back into the mix.
But Jets fans were clinging to the same forlorn hope last season, only for their team to finish a distant and deserved last.
If Newcastle cannot beat North Queensland at EnergyAustralia Stadium on Sunday, they may well be making up the numbers until season's end.
Jets coach Branko Culina admitted last night's result was "very disappointing" and his team had a serious lack of pace.
"We didn't expect that. We thought we were a little more advanced than that . . . what Wellington have and we haven't is speed.
"I'm talking about speed athletic ability. We just haven't got it, or we didn't show it. No, we haven't got it."
Asked whether it was too early to start worrying about their play-off hopes, Culina replied: "There's still a long way to go.
"We thought we saw some light at the end of the tunnel the last couple of games against Central Coast and Brisbane away from home, but again, our record away from home has been pretty ordinary.
"It's something we need to turn around and make sure we improve if we want to be challenging for better than where we are at the moment."
Jets skipper Matt Thompson said: "We weren't up to scratch today and that's a very disappointing thing."
Newcastle's line-up was diminished by the unavailability of starters Fabio Vignaroli, Ben Kantarovski and Adam D'Apuzzo.
Their absence prompted Culina to shuffle his formation, opting for a back four instead of the back three and two wing backs he has favoured in recent weeks.
Thompson switched from midfield to left back and towering Ljubo Milicevic, who has missed three games with a heel injury, returned as a holding midfielder.
The other new faces in Culina's starting team were versatile Jobe Wheelhouse, playing just behind strikers Michael Bridges and Labinot Haliti, and Kaz Patafta playing wide on the left. The new configuration was unable to prevent the Phoenix from dominating the first half.
Unbeaten at home this season, and having smashed Gold Coast 6-0 in their most recent appearance at Wellington's famous "Cake Tin", Phoenix are starting to command respect.
They had ample chances in the opening half and Newcastle were lucky to find themselves facing only a 1-0 deficit at the interval.
The goal was scored by former Jet Tim Brown, who played 10 games for Newcastle in the first A-League season.
Brown was on the spot in the 27th minute to pounce on the scraps after Jets goalkeeper Ben Kennedy spilled a low-trajectory strike from Wellington's Costa Barbarouses.
Kennedy was busy in the early exchanges keeping a barrage of headers and a spectacular Barbarouses volley out of the net.
At the other end, the Jets provided little reason to get excited until Bridges squandered two good chances late in the half and set up a well-struck shot from Patafta.
Ten minutes into the second half Wellington tightened their grip on the game with a quality goal from striker Chris Greenacre.
Paul Ifill broke clear down the left and crossed in-field to Barbarouses, who produced a cheeky back-heel that Greenacre fired home.
Kennedy spared Newcastle further embarrassment in the 83rd minute when he foiled a Greenacre penalty attempt, after Wheelhouse was ruled to have foul Brown. However, replays showed little or no contact before Brown hit the turf.
But there was no stopping Ifill in the first minute of injury time when Phoenix outflanked Newcastle's tiring defence and he finished off.
Wellington skipper Andrew Durante, a former Newcastle grand final hero, was delighted his side kept their unbeaten home record.
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