Goals by Jeremy Brockie, Ryan Griffiths and Michael Bridges were enough for Newcastle to comprehensively defeat Melbourne Heart 3-0 in their A-League clash on Saturday.

Their third victory in a row allowed the Jets to leapfrog the Heart into fifth spot on the ladder.

Despite dominating possession and territory in the opening 20 minutes, the visitors were unable to make it count on the scoreboard and were punished by the Jets in the 23rd minute.

New Zealand striker Brockie headed home his third goal in two matches after a clever cross by Tarek Elrich.

That sparked the home team, creating two more excellent chances in quick succession; Francis Jeffers shot narrowly wide before Elrich also missed a gilt-edged opportunity.

Defender Sung-Hwan Byun went within centimetres of doubling the lead for the Jets minutes later when he forced Heart goalkeeper Clint Bolton into a strong save from a well-taken free kick.

A late Paul Reid strike was well-saved by Ben Kennedy to ensure the Jets took their 1-0 lead into the halftime break.

The Jets immediately doubled the lead at the start of the second half when Griffiths nodded home his eighth goal of the season from a Byun free kick.

From there only one team appeared set to win the game and the three points were wrapped up when English veteran Bridges pounced at the back post in the 76th minute from a Ruben Zadkovic centre.

Alex Terra and Rutger Worm both came close late on for the Heart, but the visitors couldn’t find a consolation goal.

Newcastle coach Gary van Egmond was pleased with the performance of his side and proud of the way they fought back into the match after a slow start.

“The first half wasn’t so comfortable. I don’t think we controlled the game anywhere near as well as we would have liked,” he said.

“I thought the second half was really comprehensive and we created a lot of opportunities.

“When we lost the ball, we got back into a defensive shape really quickly and everyone knew their jobs.

“The Heart are a good team, they’re well coached and I think that they will be a major player through the rest of the season.”

After retiring at the end of the last season, goal-scorer Michael Bridges is enjoying every moment of his return.

“The main thing today was the three points and the goal was just the icing on the cake,” Bridges said.

“We’re full of confidence at the moment and taking form from the training ground to the field.”

A dejected Melbourne Heart coach John van `t Schip was disappointed that his side allowed Newcastle to dominate after an encouraging start.

“I thought for the first 23 minutes we were okay. We were controlling the game. I wouldn’t say we were dominating but we were giving them enough problems to think about,” he said.

“After going 1-0 behind, we started to suffer more and giving them a lot more space.

“Confidence can be there very quickly. Last week, we played a good game against the Victory and we played well against Brisbane and the Central Coast.

“You can keep on playing well but not getting results and, in the end, that is going to cost you confidence, that’s for sure, and that is what is happening now.”

He managed to crack a wry smile about an incident involving youngster Curtis Good late in the match when he was shown a second yellow card but was not sent off.

“I noticed it immediately but I didn’t tell the referee to give him a red card because that is his job. It’s now up to the FFA,” said van `t Schip.