Perth Glory have dealt Melbourne Victory's finals aspirations a massive blow with an action-packed 3-1 triumph at Members Equity Stadium on Sunday.

The Glory bolted out to a 2-0 lead after 27 minutes courtesy of goals from Jamie Harnwell and Nikita Rukavytsya, before Victory midfielder Adrian Caceres produced a thunderbolt 23-yard strike 10 minutes later to bring Melbourne back into the contest.

But Rukavytsya's goal 21 seconds into the second half - his second brace of the season - ensured the Glory notched their second win under new coach David Mitchell and moved off the bottom of the table.

The loss leaves Melbourne (16 points) in grave danger of missing the finals a year after romping its way to the 2006/07 Hyundai A-League Championship.

With just six rounds remaining, the Victory is six points adrift of the top-four with tough assignments against Adelaide, Newcastle, Central Coast and Queensland to come over the next month.

Perth 3 (Harnwell 18, Rukavytsya 27, 46)
Melbourne 1 (Caceres 37)
Crowd: 8030 @ Members Equity Stadium

Newcastle striker Joel Griffiths' stoppage time winner has earned the Jets a 1-0 win against Queensland Roar at Suncorp Stadium.

Griffiths pounced after it had appeared the game was meandering towards a disappointing draw following Ante Covic's penalty save from Roar forward Simon Lynch.

A lacklustre opening 45 minutes contained few clear cut chances with midfielder Adam Griffiths twice coming closest to breaking the deadlock when he shot wide of Liam Reddy's goal then headed over on the stroke of half-time.

But Covic smothered Lynch's low spot-kick just 10 minutes after the Scot had arrived as a second-half substitute. The former Qantas Socceroos 'keeper also kept out Craig Moore's penalty in the sides' round nine draw in Newcastle.

And Joel Griffiths headed his seventh goal of a proficient season to send him to the top of the scoring charts and the Jets just a point behind second-placed Queensland following their first win in five weeks.

Queensland Roar 0
Newcastle Jets 1 (J. Griffiths 90+1)
14,193 at Suncorp Stadium

Adelaide United maintained its push for a top four spot with a pulsating and gutsy 2-1 win over the Wellington Phoenix at Westpac Stadium on Friday night.

In front of a record crowd for a domestic match in New Zealand of 18,345, the Reds spoiled the home side's party thanks to goals to Paul Agostino and Lucas Pantelis that ensured the visitors collected three vital competition points.

The win was timely for Adelaide, snapping a barren period that had netted just two competition points from its previous four games. And the manner in which it was achieved was the more remarkable given it had to play the final 22 minutes plus stoppage time with 10 men when Milan Susak was sent off after receiving a second yellow card.

Wellington, on the other hand, now face an extremely difficult road to reach the top four in its inaugural year, the loss a bad way to start a three-game home series heading into the Christmas break.

Wellington Phoenix 1 (Daniel 69p)
Adelaide United 2 (Agostino 9, Pantelis 79)

A-League table after Round 15 (Mariners and Sydney FC have a game in hand)

A-League.com.au