The Newcastle Jets have taken their first Hyundai A-League victory, defeating competition favourite Sydney FC 2-1 at EnergyAustralia Stadium.
Newcastle led 2-0 at the break after early strikes from veterans Ante Milicic and Richard Johnson, the Jets outplaying their opposition in the first half as Sydney struggled to retain possession.
Dwight Yorke came off the bench for Sydney at the end of the first period - after returning to the country on Saturday having been on international duty - and he revived Sydney's hopes with a 73rd-minute goal.
Both sides had a player sent off midway through the second term and seven yellow cards were shown in what was a fiery contest between the New South Wales rivals.
Milicic stunned the visitors with the early opening goal, playing a slick one-two with Nick Carle to unlock the Sydney defence before chipping over Clint Bolton after just six minutes.
Carle sent Milicic through again with a clever lobbed pass down the left wing, and the striker cut the ball back to Johnson who curled a low shot past Bolton for the second goal inside 20 minutes.
The Jets continued to dominate, but Bolton was able to diffuse a well-struck long range attempt from striker Labinot Haliti in the 41st minute and a free kick from Carle on the stroke of half-time.
Yorke immediately made an impact in the second half, heading wide after a cross from Andrew Packer before forcing a save from Liam Reddy after finding his finding a hint of space behind the Newcastle defence.
Steve Corica had an opportunity to pull one back when he pounced on a lose ball in the box, but his shot sprayed over the bar.
Both sides were reduced to 10 men when Corica was ruled to have made a dangerous tackle in the 65th minute.
Corica was shown a straight red card and Newcastle defender Mateo Corbo, who had received a caution after a rough challenge on Robbie Middleby in the first term, was given his second yellow after the resulting melee.
Yorke then burst into the box and powered a shot past Reddy to score for FC, but despite piling on the pressure in the dying stages, Sydney couldn't find the equaliser.