Newcastle are facing the frighteningly real possibility of going from A-League champions to wooden spooners within a season after Sunday’s loss to Sydney FC.
The Jets’ woes continued after Sydney came from behind to score a 2-1 win at EnergyAustralia Stadium to leave the reigning champions anchored to the bottom of the ladder.
Young gun Brendon Gan came off the bench to score a late winner with only nine minutes of A-League experience to his name.
The Jets’ 1-0 grand final triumph over Central Coast in February looks a distant memory with the champions now going six matches without a win, and sitting eight points outside the top four with seven games to go.
While clinging on to some mathematical hope, coach Gary van Egmond conceded his team faced a monumental challenge to make anything of their season.
“Obviously mathematically it’s possible but you’re going to have to go on some run to put ourselves in the top four,” van Egmond said.
“You’re probably not going to need as many points as you did last year because people will knock each other off, but it’s going to be tough.
“The first priority is to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and get ready for Queensland (next Sunday) … we’ve just got to take each game on its merits.”
Compounding Newcastle’s woes was Perth’s 3-1 upset win over Melbourne on Saturday night.
The Glory (15 points) jumped off the bottom of the ladder to be three points ahead of the Jets (12) and keep their slim finals hopes alive.
Ivory Coast showman Eugene Dadi scored a first-half double while Adriano Pellegrino sealed the result with one of the goals of the season, his 78th-minute wonder strike from well outside the area.
Adelaide (24 points) claimed top spot with Friday night’s 6-1 thumping of Wellington.
Brazilian Cassio scored two second half goals while Cristiano scored one either side of halftime to hand coach Aurelio Vidmar his biggest win since taking charge of the club in March last year.
The result will give the club plenty of confidence heading into Thursday night’s FIFA Club World Cup quarter-final playoff against New Zealand’s Waitakere United in Tokyo.
Melbourne (23) are in second after their loss to Perth, while Sydney (20) jumped three spots to be narrowly ahead of Queensland (20) on goal difference after the Roar drew 1-1 with Central Coast on Saturday night.
The Mariners again left it late, with substitute Andre Gumprecht scoring the equaliser in the 83rd minute following Serginho Van Dijk’s stunning first-half free kick.
The draw leaves the Mariners (19) in fifth, just ahead of the Phoenix (18).
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