A gutsy Newcastle Jets side has tonight gone down 2-0 away to Adelaide United at Hindmarsh Stadium.

Injuries to four Jets players reduced the side to 10 men for the majority of the second half. The remaining players then worked hard but were simply worn down by a buoyant Adelaide outfit.

Twins, Adam and Joel Griffiths were forced off the field in the first half in a big blow for the visiting side, and early in the second half Jesper Hakansson and Jason Hoffman also succumbed to injury.

The first half began well for the home side, with lone striker Cristiano taking the first shot in anger in just the 1st minute of the game. His strike from 20 yards, however, was well saved by Jets’ custodian Ante Covic. That was to be perhaps the best chance for the Reds in the opening stanza as Newcastle had the better of the goalmouth action for the first 45 minutes.

In the 8th minute, Korean livewire Jin-Hyung Song worked hard to create an opportunity for youngster Jason Hoffman on the edge of the area. With a first time strike, Hoffman hit his left-footed shot on target but it was held well by goalkeeper Eugene Galekovic.

Song then had an opportunity himself after Hoffman chased down a seemingly lost cause, and some neat work by Joel Griffiths saw Song with the ball at his feet on 6 yards out from goal. Galekovic was in fine form though, and pulled out a wonderful reflex save to keep the scores level.

Two injuries within the first 10 minutes of the second half then left Newcastle a man short and Adelaide used the advantage to go on the attack.

The gallant Novocastrians had their hearts broken when Cristiano scored a rebound header from close range in the 72nd minute after substitute Alemao’s initial effort was parried onto the bar by Covic.

The Jets continued to toil and right-back Tarek Elrich stood tall on 2 occasions as he searched for the equaliser. Both times the lightning quick defender beat two markers before sending a blistering shot on target, only to be denied by wonderful saves by an impressive Galekovic.

As the 10-man Jets continued to look for an elusive goal, a mistake by Covic left Cristiano with an open goal to seal his brace and cap a wonderful week for Adelaide, who, on Wednesday night, booked their ticket to the Asian Champions League Semi-Finals.

www.newcastlejets.com.au

Newcastle Jets will be hoping to take the lead in Group A of the pre-season today when they take on Adelaide United at Baddeley Park in Cessnock.

Newcastle drew 1-1 with Perth in their opening match and will be hoping to upset an in-form Adelaide United side in tomorrow night’s clash.

The Jets will be without Jade North, Joel Griffiths, James Holland, Shaun Ontong, and Ben Kantarovski for the match, but Adam Griffiths will return to the side after missing last weekend’s match with suspension.

Newcastle coach Gary Van Edmond said the player absences, through injury and national team duty with the Olyroos, meant the Jets squad was a bit “skinny” at the moment. But he was impressed with the team’s first half against Perth last weekend and was hoping to build on that effort this week.

“It’s very important that we play well in terms of growing momentum from where we were last week to where we are this week. We’ve only got two competition games left, depending on whether we’re fortunate enough to get into the [pre-season cup] final, so there’s not a great deal of time for the boys to get match fitness.”

Adelaide United beat Melbourne Victory 2-1 last weekend and has been in good form during the AFC Champions League. The team has qualified for the AFC Champions League quarter final stage, to be held in September, and will be hoping to keep their momentum going in tomorrow’s match.

Cristiano dos Santos Rodrigues, who scored both of Adelaide’s goals in last week’s match, will again start, and the return of defender Sasa Ognenovski and midfielder Lucas Pantelis will also boost the side. Unfortunately for Adelaide, marquee striker Paul Agostino had been ruled out of the match with an abductor strain and midfielder Diego will also miss the trip with a hamstring strain.

Adelaide’s most recent signing Robert Younis will also miss the match because of his commitments with NSW premier league club Apia Leichardt Tigers.

Adelaide coach Aurelio Vidmar said Adelaide remained focussed on the AFC Champions League and upcoming A-League season and would use the match as another opportunity to ensure combinations were running smoothly.

“It’s absolutely about preparing the team for August 17 and we’ve got a pretty tough schedule in September with the AFC Champions League quarter finals, so we’re just preparing and making sure that we’re right for the first game against Perth Glory.”

In the other Group A clash of the weekend, Perth Glory will meet Melbourne Victory in Perth on Sunday. A Perth win would like the team to four points, which would see them on equal points with the Jets if Newcastle can overcome Adelaide this weekend.

Newcastle United Squad:
1.Ante Covic, 2.Adam Griffiths, 7.Kaz Patafta, 8.Matt Thompson, 10.Jin-Hyung Song, 11.Tarek Elrich, 12.Jobe Wheelhouse, 13.Adam D’Apuzzo, 15.Jason Hoffman, 17.Antun Kovacic, 18.Noel Spencer, 19.Jason Naidovski, 20.Ben Kennedy.

Adelaide United Squad:
20.Eugene Galekovic (gk), 2.Robert Cornthwaite, 3.Alemao, 4.Angelo Costanzo, 5.Michael Valkanis, 6.Cassio, 7.Lucas Pantelis, 10.Cristiano, 13.Travis Dodd, 14.Scott Jamieson, 15.Jonas Salley, 16.Daniel Mullen, 18.Fabian Barbiero, 19.Sasa Ognenovski, 21.Jason Spagnuolo, 30.Mark Birighitti (gk). * one to be omitted

By James Heffield, Betfair soccer bet journalist