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Newcastle have delayed Sydney's charge to the A-League Premiers Plate with a shock 2-1 away win over the Sky Blues.

Substitute Kosta Petratos has delayed Sydney's charge to the A-League's Premiers Plate with a late winner in Newcastle's 2-1 away victory over the Sky Blues on Tuesday.

Sydney only need a point to secure a record fourth Premiers Plate and led for over half an hour at Netstrata Jubilee Oval

But a spectacular equaliser from Nick Fitzgerald and a 20 metre stoppage strike from Petratos, his first A-League goal, earned the Jets a win.

It moved them up to eighth, three points behind sixth-placed Adelaide, who have a game in hand.

The Jets had 15 shots to five and controlled play for 40 minutes either side of halftime, despite falling behind.

It was an unconvincing performance by Sydney, who were forced to defend more than they have for most of the season.

"We weren't good enough,' Sydney coach Steve Corica said.

"I thought they played well, had more chances than us and we looked quite heavy in the second half."

Sydney took the lead with a beautifully constructed goal in the 25th minute, with Anthony Caceres sliding home from close range after Rhyan Grant and Alex Baumjohann combined.

Sydney suffered a big blow after 31 minutes when Socceroos defender Grant was forced off with what appeared to be a groin or hamstring injury.

His marauding raids down the right were one of the features of the first half-hour and he featured in some fine one-touch moves, with his departure robbing Sydney of much of their attacking thrust.

It looked like Newcastle could go unrewarded when Roy O'Donovan watched his shot cannon off a post in the 51st minute.

Newcastle's well-deserved equaliser came in the 58th minute, when Nick Fitzgerald spectacularly volleyed home a cross from Matt Millar.

Petratos stunned the small crowd by curling in a shot to give Newcastle a win in their first game in almost four months.

They have won four of their last five and taken 14 points from seven matches under coach Carl Robinson.

"If that doesn't give the players confidence I don't know what will, because it wasn't a smash and grab it was a terrific controlled performance, playing the way I want to play," Robinson said.

"We weren't clinical enough in the final third in the first half so I was disappointed with that and Iet them know, and they took it on board."

Corica made three substitutions on the hour, bringing on Trent Buhagier, Milos Ninkovic and Joel King in a bid to turn the game around and the trio did add some more urgency, as Sydney pressed for a winner.

In the first half, Newcastle had six more shots than Sydney and Sky Blues goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne made the only three saves of the first 45 minutes.