Newcastle remained in the top six and Adelaide is still propping up the A-League after a 0-0 draw at Hindmarsh Stadium.
Mark Birighitti was the reason Newcastle gained a point with some terrific saves in a match that Adelaide dominated for long periods. He managed to claw away an effort from James Jeggo that seemed certain to go in and then he repeated the dose a few minutes later.
Adelaide was by far the sharper side and can look back on this one as two points lost. The closest the Jets came was in the very last minute of normal time as Jason Hoffman headed home a David Carney cross but the strike was correctly ruled out for offside.
Confidence is low on both sides
Newcastle came to Adelaide seemingly with the Reds right where they would want them. Adelaide has been bereft of confidence this season as they have struggled to only two points and have not been able to string together their fabled possession game. One would think the Jets would come out firing early and take the fight right up to the Reds.
Instead, all Newcastle seemed to do was play Adelaide back into some sort of semblance of form. The Jets were static going forward, meaning that their passing was always backwards and sideways, allowing Adelaide to play their way into the contest.
It was no surprise that the best chances of the opening half came for Adelaide, with Craig Goodwin in particular causing the Jets defence some issues. If he was not so devoid of confidence himself then he surely would have given Adelaide what would have been a deserved lead.
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