Carney, whose career at the Jets looked all over last season, looks a man reborn this season.
He gave Victory left back Dylan Murnane a tough time all night, and when he popped up in central positions his passing and guile came to the fore.
But it was from 25 yards, with just over 10 minutes to go, that Carney made his biggest impact on the game in front of 10,087 fans at Hunter Stadium.
The Jets had a free kick and the temptation would have been to swing it into the box and search for the tall timber, Boogard and Mullen.
Instead, Leonardo rolled it short, perhaps too short for Carney, who checked his run before seeing his shot fly off the outside of his boot and into the far corner.
It was a goal worthy of winning any match.
For most of the second half Victory looked the more likely to break the deadlock, but it wasn't always that way.
The Jets started brightly and indeed the best chances fell their way in the opening exchanges.
A curious yellow card for Daniel Mullen, who looked as if he was on the receiving end of some wrestling from Leigh Broxham, gave way to a decent save from Danny Vukovic, who had to tip away a deflected Carney cross.
The two left backs were under the pump, with Murnane having to deal with an in-the-mood Carney, and young Lachlan Jackson confronted with the livewire Kosta Barbarouses on the Victory right.
A slack pass from Broxham fell Milos Trifunovic's way but the Jets striker shot straight at Vukovic when he really should have done better. It would soon develop into a theme for the Jets' No.9.
Another chance followed when Leonardo teased a ball into the box from the left, only for the lunging Trifunovic to somehow miss a clean connection.
Victory finally came into the game in the second part of the first half, and when it did it was difficult to deal with.
Fahid Ben Khalfallah was denied by Ben Kennedy, depusiting for the striken Mark Birighitti, before Kennedy was required to make an even sharper save to deny Barbarouses.
A raking crossfield pass from Victory skipper Carl Valeri found Barbarouses shortly after, and after a minor scramble, Berisha thrashed a shot against the bar.
Victory was knocking, but the Jets had the door firmly barricaded.
Daniel Georgievski would have been seeing stars after Mateo Poljak's stinging volley only found the side of Georgievski's head.
The Macedonia international was also lucky to escape a red card in the dying moments after a naughty, shin high tackle.
The Jets had a golden chance to open the scoring straight after the break, but that man again, Trifunovic, shot wide with only Vukovic to beat.
Kennedy made a very sharp save at his near post to beat Barbarouses, before Gui Finkler shot straight at the Jets' gloveman.
The defending champion was made to pay for its profligacy however, when Carney's rocket flew past the stranded Vukovic.
Newcastle Jets 1 (Carney 76')
Melbourne Victory 0
Hunter Stadium, Newcastle
Referee: Strebre Delovski
Referee: Strebre Delovski
Crowd: 10,087
