The Hyundai A-League coaching reign of Mark Jones has begun with a promising point after the Jets held reigning champions Adelaide United to a 1-1 draw in their season opener on Sunday.
Two first half goals ensured both sides would bank a point at McDonald Jones Stadium, with returning Newcastle flyer Andrew Hoole coming closest to grabbing a winner in the second stanza.
New Jets signing Aleksandr Kokko almost opened the scoring after a quarter of an hour when he blocked a clearance from Eugene Galekovic onto the cross-bar.
However the home side had their goal just a minute later when another club debutant, Wayne Brown, blasted home from distance.
The Jets gifted the Reds a way back into the match following a cheap turnover and confusion at the back on the half-hour mark but neither side was able to fashion a winner.
Jones has huge injury concerns heading into next weekend’s clash against Brisbane with Kokko, Jason Hoffman and Daniel Mullen all leaving the field with injuries.
Re-live all the action in the match centre.
GOALS
1-0 Newcastle: Wayne Brown, 17’
The Englishman received the ball at the top of the box from Andrew Nabbout, took a touch and blasted a volley past Eugene Galekovic that went in off the far post.
1-1 Adelaide: Jesse Makarounas, 29’
A terrible mix-up between Daniel Mullen and Jack Duncan saw the ball spill out to Makarounas who was able to stroke a shot into an empty net from the top of the box.
OPTA STATS
The Reds continued their remarkable unbeaten run on the road from last season, extending their record to 11 matches.
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