Super sub Ricardinho proved the hero with his 90th-minute tap-in from Kruse's cross to spark jubilant scenes as a crowd of 16,378 celebrated a valuable three points that moves Victory up to fifth on the Hyundai A-League table.

It also stretches Melbourne's unbeaten run to six matches and was their third consecutive win, all the victories coming at home.

But it proved a cruel blow for the visiting Jets, who were well worth at least a point, after certainly having the better of general play.

They had also come back from a goal deficit thanks to a fine 54th-minute effort from Ruben Zadkovich.

The industrious midfielder's neat 25-yard shot was worth its weight in gold as it cancelled out Victory's lead that came courtesy of a brilliant 20th minute strike from Costa Rican star Carlos Hernandez.

Hernandez stamped his mark on the contest with a wonderful 35-yard effort which beat goalkeeper Ben Kennedy that came totally against the run of play in a first-half dictated by the visitors.

Newcastle created a number of opportunities in the opening stanza, but their best came after just six minutes when Jobe Wheelhouse blazed wide from inside the box following a wonderful build-up featuring Ljubo Milicevic and Tarek Elrich.

Right-back Elrich in particular, was able to find space down Melbourne's left-side and had a hand in presenting opportunities for the likes of former England international Francis Jeffers and Zadkovich as well.

But for all their dominance, Newcastle did lack a cutting edge up front, with Marko Jesic isolated for much of the game, while Jeffers worked hard, but his best efforts were long-range attempts which Victory goalkeeper Michael Petkovic comfortably handled.

Victory, who were missing influential midfielder Grant Brebner, were unable to create their usual fluency in attack, and were benefited by the calming presence of an impenetrable back three marshalled by skipper Kevin Muscat.

Muscat and his partners in crime, Rodrigo Vargas and Adrian Leijer were frugal throughout in snuffing an array of Newcastle attacking raids.

Melbourne Victory 2 (Hernandez 20, Ricardinho 90)
Newcastle Jets 1 (Zadkovich 54)
Crowd: 16,378 at AAMI Park, Melbourne