Brisbane Roar ride deflections to A-League win

Two deflected goals kept Brisbane Roar on course for the A-League finals, as they overcame Newcastle Jets 2-1.

Influential Irish import Jay O'Shea scored at both ends in the second half, conceding an own goal just after the hour for Newcastle's equaliser, before his 73rd minute shot from outside the area flicked off Jets substitute Lucas Mauragis on its way to the net for the match sealer.

The result at the McDonald Jones Stadium consolidated sixth spot for Brisbane, who pulled three points clear of both Western Sydney and Perth Glory and within one point of fifth-placed Macarthur.

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It was a deserved win for Brisbane, who had most of the chances against last-place Newcastle, whose club-record streak without a win stretched to 14 games.

"As a collective we've spoke about our slow starts, but we're probably disappointed with that start again but after that we settled down and we took control of the game." Roar coach Warren Moon said.

"On the whole, really pleased with the performance and obviously the result."

The match produced nothing of note or excitement for the first 25 minutes, but Brisbane dominated the rest of the half.

Dylan Wenzel-Halls had his first goal in eight games denied by an offside call confirmed by VAR in the 26th minute after he headed in a cross from Riku Danzaki.

Roar opened the scoring in the 34th minute, when a shot from Alex Parsons flicked off teammate Danzaki, for the Japanese player's eighth goal of the campaign.

After the goal, Brisbane continued to press forward while Newcastle looked lifeless in attack and didn't manage an attempt on target.

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The energetic Wenzel-Halls had a shot blocked and a couple of seconds later the creative Parsons had a well-executed attempt caught by Jets' goalkeeper Jack Duncan.

Looking for an injection of energy, Newcastle coach Craig Deans made two half-time changes, replacing Connor O'Toole and Ali Abbas with Lucas Mauragis and 16-year-old Archie Goodwin.

Newcastle lifted and Roy O'Donovan wasted a good chance when his lob over Roar goalkeeper Jamie Young lacked the power to go in and was cleared by Tom Aldred close to the line.

The Jets equalised in the 61st minute when O'Shea headed in a corner from Jets' substitute Ramy Najjarine, who had come on just seconds earlier.

O'Shea put the Roar in front before Mauragis and Najjarine had shots late in the game to level, but Danzaki almost grabbed a third for Brisbane in stoppage time only to have his kick blocked by Duncan.

"Whether we can get out earlier to the shots and get a better block on them or not, I'm not sure, I'd have to look at the video, but it's a cruel way to concede two goals," Newcastle coach Craig Deans said.

"Brisbane are a good team and they had more of the ball than we did, but I thought we defended quite well for the majority of the game."