The semi-final hopes of the Newcastle Jets took a mighty leap forward when they moved into the Hyundai A-League's top five with a 3-0 victory over Melbourne Heart at Hunter Stadium.
The third win in succession was easily the Jets' most comfortable of the season as they leapfrogged an understrength Heart on the ladder.
Striker Jeremy Brockie opened the scoring in the 23rd minute to take his total to nine, the equal second-best tally in the A-League, when he headed home a cross from Tarek Elrich.
In the second half Ryan Griffiths scored his eighth goal of the campaign with a header from a Byun Sung-hwan free kick and then substitute Michael Bridges killed off the match in the 76th minute with a poacher's grab from a Heart deflection.
While the Jets' short-passing game lacked crispness, their defence starved the Heart of goal-scoring opportunities.
A storm an hour before kick-off restricted the crowd to 10,619.
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