Clinical finishes to Johnny Koutroumbis, Jason Hoffman and Steven Ugarkovic, plus an easy header to Ben Kantarovski, piles yet more pressure on Josep Gombau’s side.

The Wanderers looked lost on their travels; Newcastle seemed a longer way from Wanderland than a hop down the F3 would suggest, Gombau’s men also looking a shadow of the side that won last week.

Conversely, Ernie Merrick must be pinching himself. Koutroumbis, Joey Champness, Steven Ugarkovic and Ivan Vujica are dominating the league, and they’re barely out of the Jets’ academy.

Newcastle are now breathing down Sydney’s neck – only two points off top spot – and with Daniel Gorgievski, Ronald Vargas, Roy O’Donovan and new signings Riley McGree and Patito Rodriguez entering the fold sooner or later, Newcastle’s potential is electrifying.

Jason Hoffman’s experiencing a career resurgence under Merrick, and was understandably pleased.

“It’s a good performance because the last few weeks we’ve been lucky,” Hoffman said. “We started fast and we were a lot tougher.

“It’s always good to score goals but more importantly, the intent from the team was good. It’s an aggressive style which hopefully pleased the fans.

“There’s strong belief within the group, new signings are only going to strengthen the squad and competition for places is high.”

Wanderers’ captain Mark Bridge was scathing in his review of the match, and declined to back coach Josep Gombau when given the chance.

“It just wasn’t good enough,” Bridge said.

“Last week we got the win but it still wasn’t a good performance, Central Coast weren’t good last week and it shows when we come up against a good side.”

When asked if the players understood Gombau’s tactics, Bridge was unmoved.

“You can see, it’s a bit all over the shop at the moment,” he said. “The boys look flat, it looked slow, there’s no intensity, it was terrible.

“I can’t remember the last time this team conceded nine goals in three weeks.

“It’s very hard to lift the team (as captain), but it comes down to the individuals as well.”