Brisbane Roar kept their faint top six hopes alive as goals from Henry Hore and Luke Ivanovic earned them a 2-0 win over the Newcastle Jets on Sunday.
Roar are priced at 10/1 to play finals and now sit eight points behind the top six with games fast running out.
Hore stars
Rising star Hore got the crucial opening goal seven minutes from time. The 22-year-old showed maturity well beyond his years when going through on goal before slotting the winner.
Ivanovic grabbed the second goal deep in stoppage time and boss Warren Moon says Hore has been one of the highlights in what has been a tough campaign.
Related Australian Football news
Victory have come a long way says Popa
Toughest campaign yet says Corica
"He's a real find for us and he's a Queenslander," Moon said of Hore. "We're really proud to bring players through that have been at the club and give them the opportunity at A-League level."
Papas not happy
Meanwhile Newcastle coach Arthur Papas was far from happy with the performance of his side as their finals hopes suffered a setback.
The Jets are now five points off the top six with work to do. And he is demanding a response against Perth Glory.
"Not good enough," Papas said. "Not forward enough. Not enough bravery on the ball. Not enough forward runs.
"They're key pillars for our game so when they're not on, we ain't going to create chances. The players understand that and we'll need to regroup and get ready for our next game."
