Newcastle's W-League finals hopes appear over and instead they now look to be headed for a fight not to finish with the wooden spoon again after being beaten 2-1 by Adelaide United in round 10 at No.2 Sportsground on Friday night.
The Jets went into the match nine points adrift of fourth place and knowing it would take a Herculean effort and other results to play in their favour to finish with a finals position.
It was an improved performance from the hosts than the one they produced six days earlier in a costly 2-0 loss to Melbourne Victory at the same venue.
In a match that was played end-to-end, the Jets finished looking stronger and more desperate of the two teams but, as has been the story of their season, they could not turn their attack into much-needed goals after the Reds took a 2-1 lead to the break.
All three goals came in the opening 15 minutes. Chelsie Dawber gave Adelaide a 1-0 lead in the 12th minute. Chilean international Maria Jose Rojas, who looked dangerous every time she touched the ball, laid off to Dawber on the edge of the box and the Reds attacker fired a left-footed shot into the top right corner.
Newcastle hit straight back one minute later through left-back Gema Simon, who won the ball after a scramble on the edge of the Reds' 18-yard box and launched a curling left-footed shot from a tight angle into the far corner.
The moment was however short-lived. In the 15th minute Emily Condon scored into the bottom left corner from around the penalty spot after a failed Jets clearance.
There were fewer chances in the second half. The Reds' best came in the 68th when a diving Claire Coelho parried away another left-footed strike from Dawber.
Newcastle attacking midfielder Pana Petratos, who was elevated to the starting side in place of suspended Rhianna Pollinica, came close to finding another equaliser for the hosts with a long-range shot in the 74th minute that landed on top of the net. One minute later Sunny Franco met a cross from Tara Andrews in the box but headed it wide.
Jets coach Ash Wilson felt it was a better performance but again rued a failure to fire in the final third.
"To be honest, that was probably some of the best football we've played," Wilson said.
"We had more passes than them, probably our greatest pass completion accuracy. So, in terms of being a bit more composed, I thought we did that and we looked to play football.
"The last couple of games against Victory we turned over possession for fun, so that was a positive aspect, and I thought we were doing well enough and dominating large patches of the game to be able to get a result.
"Obviously it's disappointing for the girls that we copped two goals early and weren't able to create enough chances that were probably clear-cut to be able to get back the goal and even carry on."
The result moved Adelaide to 16 points and from fourth into third while the Jets stayed seven on four. Fourth-placed Victory (13) play fifth-placed Canberra (11 points) on Sunday.
On Thursday night, sixth-placed Western Sydney improved to 10 points by beating defending champions Melbourne City, who are eighth on four points, 1-0 at Wanderers Centre of Football and league leaders Sydney moved to 24 points with a 6-2 victory over last-placed Perth (one point) at Dorrien Gardens.
Newcastle next face Perth in Perth on March 8 before City, Canberra and then unbeaten Brisbane, who are second with 19 points.
