HOW embarrassing.
A day that was promoted as a historic occasion and a highlight of the season instead finished as an abject anti-climax after the Newcastle Jets were hammered 4-1 by Adelaide at McDonald Jones Stadium on Sunday.
Appearing in the feature match of the A-League's first-ever double-header, the Jets conceded four goals in the first half, the first time they had suffered such an ignominy on their own turf.
The only consolation was that torrential rain killed off any chance of a decent crowd. Those long-suffering diehards who did turn up might well feel entitled to ask for a refund.
From the moment Newcastle skipper Nigel Boogaard was dispossessed in the fifth minute, allowing Kusini Yengi to pounce and open the scoring, the visitors were in control.
They proceeded to rack up goals through Stefan Mauk, Ben Halloran and Craig Goodwin to lead 4-0 before referee Jonathan Barreiro had blown his whistle for half-time.
The Jets regained a modicum of respect by scoring the only goal of the second half, through replacement Apostolos Stamatelopoulos in the 69th minute, although by then Adelaide were in cruise control.
It was Newcastle's fourth defeat in as many games and leaves them second-last on the ladder, needing a minor miracle if they hope to feature in the play-offs.
They are now seven points adrift of sixth-placed Sydney FC and fifth-placed Melbourne City, who both sit on 18 points and have played fewer games than Newcastle.
The Jets still have 13 regular-season games remaining, more than enough time to turn their fortunes around, but the worry is that the gap between them and the top six has been steadily increasing, rather than shrinking.
Adding to their woes, Boogaard collected a fifth yellow card of the season and will now miss next week's trip to Perth through suspension.
For Adelaide, it was their fifth successive win and they have climbed to third on the ladder.
In the first leg of the double-header, Wellington Phoenix and Brisbane Roar played out a 1-all draw.
- SOCCER: PAGES 38-39
