Newcastle 1 Queensland 2

TRAVEL-HAPPY Queensland Roar have sneaked into the A-League top four courtesy of a 2-1 away win against the Newcastle Jets at EnergyAustralia Stadium last night.

The visitors had to do it the hard way after falling behind when Joel Griffiths opened the scoring in the 23rd minute, but they quickly replied through Matt McKay before Charlie Miller was on hand to tap home the eventual winner in a pulsating first half.

The result kept a bizarre record between the two teams alive, where the home team has won just one from 12.

Queensland coach Frank Farina praised his players for keeping their half-time lead.

"We've always had pretty competitive and entertaining games against Newcastle, but I thought we played pretty well today. Not exceptional, but we worked really hard and got two quality goals," he said.

It was far from a stroll for the Roar as the Jets did most of the attacking.

Newcastle coach Gary van Egmond changed his formation and personnel in the second half but it came to nothing.

"I think we obviously dominated the game, but again that doesn't always translate into goals," he said.

The Roar's winner came when Miller found himself on the end of Tim Smits' flick-on, allowing him to nudge home from close range despite howls for offside from the 10,597 crowd.

In last night's other game, two goals from Perth Glory's Nikita Rukavytsya lifted his side off the bottom of the ladder with a 2-0 win over Wellington in Perth.

Save up to 36% on home delivery of the Herald - subscribe today!