Joel Griffiths again showed how important he was to Newcastle's A-League campaign - and this time he wasn't even playing.

Missing their star striker and the league's leading goal-scorer through a one-game suspension, the Jets succumbed 3-2 to a determined Wellington at EnergyAustralia Stadium.

Goals to Michael Ferrante and Kristian Rees early in the second half secured the win for the Phoenix after Shane Smeltz - who joined Griffiths at the top of the scorers list with nine for the season - had his initial first-half strike cancelled out by a Mark Bridge penalty.

Jets striker Scott Tunbridge gave the home crowd of 15,107 hope of a result with his first goal of the season in the 81st, but Wellington hung on for their fifth win of the competition.

The loss drops the Jets to fourth on the ladder and out of minor premiership calculations, while leaving the door ajar for Adelaide or even the Phoenix to snatch a finals berth over the final three rounds.

Most importantly, though, it showed how valuable Griffiths was to the Jets' hopes of a maiden title.

Before the match, the Socceroo hopeful had scored seven of the Jets' last 10 goals.

Without him, Gary van Egmond's men struggled in front of goal for much of the game, creating their fair share of chances but lacking that killer instinct.

In one exchange in the first half, they had as many as four chances to shoot from inside the box, yet failed to extract even a save from goalkeeper Glen Moss.

Wellington took a deserved lead in the 16th minute when Smeltz tapped in after Vaughan Coveny's close range effort rebounded off the cross bar.

Newcastle equalised when Bridge converted form the penalty spot in the 29th after the Olyroo star had won the spot kick after being brought down in the box by Moss.

The Jets looked set to take the lead near the break when Denni found himself hurtling towards goal one-on-one with the 'keeper, but Moss redeemed himself with a fine save.

Denni again went close to breaking the deadlock moments after the break, but it was the Phoenix who finally succeeded in the 48th minute.

Newcastle failed to properly clear a corner, allowing Michael Ferrante to strike sweetly with his left boot from just outside the box.

Two minutes later the Jets defence again came unstuck, with Kristian Rees' looping header beating goalkeeper Ante Covic and all but sealing the result.

Van Egmond admitted his side missed Griffiths, but said the striker's absence was not the Jets' downfall.

"I think we obviously missed Joel, as anyone's going to miss a quality player in their team," said the Jets coach.

"But in saying 'was it the reason we lost the match?', no it wasn't.

"We scored two goals here at home, we've conceded three, which is terrible.

"It wasn't a situation where Joel would have made the difference as far as winning or losing the game, it was a situation where we should have won the game tonight with the amount of possession and territory we had, but again defensively we were poor.

"I think it was 68 per cent we had as far as possession was concerned. I'd say if you would give any other team 68 per cent they would come out on top."

Despite breathing life into the finals hopes, Phoenix coach Ricki Herbert downplayed the incentive a top four berth may have for his side.

"I guess the media here and at home may keep talking about the finals ... but for us it's kind of not about the finals," Herbert said after Wellington moved to within five points of the top four with three rounds to play.

"If we make the finals fantastic, but it's more about their performances.

"We're very proud of what we've done this year, and if 12 points gets us in there (the finals) then great."

The Jets also have an injury concern, with Denni forced off with a hamstring injury midway through the second half.

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