Newcastle deservedly took the lead in the 22nd minute when Labinot Haliti showed good technique to squeeze a shot into the corner of the net to help the home side to a 1-0 lead at half-time.

But Hernandez showed his class to lead a Victory revival.

The Costa Rican displayed great vision to put Archie Thompson clear for the equaliser just after the hour mark before unleashing a vicious 30-yard strike that cannoned off the crossbar for Tom Pondlejak to pounce on and poke home Melbourne's second goal in the 79th minute.

Hernandez completed a great match when he grabbed a goal of his own six minutes from full-time.

The win puts Melbourne one point behind top-placed Sydney FC with third-placed Gold Coast and fourth-placed Perth still to play each other.

The game started at a hectic pace with former Victory midfielder Kaz Patafta unleashing a fierce 25-yard shot that forced a good save from Melbourne goalkeeper Glen Moss in just the third minute of play.

Newcastle skipper Matt Thompson earned an early yellow card in the fourth minute for a jarring tackle on Hernandez while Melbourne midfielder Matthew Kemp was shown yellow for an equally tough tackle on Jin-Hyung Song just a few moments later.

Hernandez shot wide from outside the area before Archie Thompson and Ney Fabiano worked together to fashion a shot that was saved by Newcastle custodian Ben Kennedy.

Newcastle took the lead in the 22nd minute when left back Tarek Elrich cut through the midfield before sliding a sublime through ball for Haliti who chipped over an advancing Moss from 15 yards.

Newcastle looked to have doubled their lead a few moments later when Ben Kantarovski slotted home from three yards out after Nikolai Topor-Stanley had headed on Patafta's deflected free kick.

However, the linesman called the young defender offside and the score remained 1-0.

Melbourne worked their way back into the match after the break. Ney Fabiano was replaced by Mate Dugandzic with Hernandez pushing further forward.

And it was the Costa Rican international's foresight that led to the equaliser in the 61st minute.

He chipped a lovely ball over the top for Archie Thompson to outpace three defenders and audaciously lob a shot over Kennedy in the Newcastle goal.

Haliti almost put Newcastle back in front just moments later when substitute Al Abbas broke away down the left flank before crossing to Michael Bridges in the middle of the area.

His shot was blocked by Rody Vargas but Haliti pounced to volley a shot that was parried away by Moss.

Melbourne wrestled back momentum and took the lead after Hernandez unleashed a thunderbolt from 30 yards out.

Kennedy tipped the shot onto the crossbar but Pondlejak was first to the ball and he slotted home to give the visitors the lead in the 79th minute.

The Victory completed a great comeback when Dugandzic latched onto some lazy work from the Newcastle defence.

He squared to Archie Thompson who found Hernandez in acres of space on the left flank.

Hernandez ran the ball into the penalty area before calmly slotting the ball between the legs of Kennedy to seal the win.