The spoils have had to be shared in the Hunter with the Newcastle Jets drawing with Adelaide United in a tight 1-1 contest.
» Click here to read the match report
Final Score:
Newcastle Jets 1
Adelaide United 1
The final match of Round 1 sees the Newcastle Jets host defending champions Adelaide United at Hunter Stadium. Join us on The Roar from 5pm AEDT to follow all of the action.
A side prone to turbulence, the Jets again hit a patch of rough weather during the off season with coach Scott Miller departing the club.
Despite only managing an eighth-placed finish last season, the Jets seemed to be flying in the right direction under Miller.
His departure has as a result cast some doubt over the future of the club but an undefeated pre-season and the appointment of Mark Jones as coach suggests the Jets remain on course for more successful seasons ahead.
Some good recruitment in Wayne Brown, Devante Clut, Jack Duncan, Andrew Hoole and Aleksandr Kokko looks set to keep them on a good flight path for the season ahead.
How far they can go this season will be given a good test against the reigning A-League champions this afternoon.
Premiers Plate and Grand Final winners from last season, Adelaide United were brought down to earth relatively quickly with some high profile departures.
Bruce Djite, who had become the clubs’ highest goal scorer, and Craig Goodwin, were two of the more high profile departures.
Slow to bring in new recruits, Amor has turned to Spanish striker Sergi Guardiola who had an ill-fated and very short stint with Barcelona, super-sub Henrique from the Roar and fringe Socceroo James Holland among a few others.
There still seems to be few holes to fill though, with a handful of injuries not helping matters, and this opening game with the Jets will be a good indication of just how leaky things are at United.
The Jets boast a near full-strength squad heading into their opening game with only Ben Kennedy and Daniel Alessi missing through long-term injuries.
United aren’t quite so lucky with Michael Marrone, Marcelo Carrusca, Nikola Mileusnic and Jordan Elsey out through injury and George Mells absent due to international duty.
Prediction: 1-0
Can the reigning champions start their title defence with a win or can the Jets bring them down to earth?
Join us on The Roar from 5pm AEDT to find out as the Newcastle Jets host Adelaide United.
Cousin Claudio
Roar Guru
Record weekend of A-League. Record television ratings - FTA and PayTV and online streaming. Record A-League single game attendance 61,880, bigger than Sydney AFL Grand Final and rugby league State of Origin. Biggest attendance in NSW any team sport this year. Biggest first round attendance A-League ever - 106,365 average of 21,273 per game - 75% increase over last year's average. We are champions. Dilly ding, dilly dong!
Joshua Thomas
Roar Guru
My pleasure mate.
Ben of Phnom Penh
Roar Guru
Thanks for the call, Josh.
Joshua Thomas
Roar Guru
Fulltime A slower second half sees the game end in a draw. Not the worst result for either side with both still trying to find their feet. Newcastle Jets 1 Adelaide United 1
Joshua Thomas
Roar Guru
90+3' Cirio caught offside after being played through on goal. Newcastle Jets 1 Adelaide United 1
Joshua Thomas
Roar Guru
90+3' Hoole handed a yellow for a foul on halfway. Newcastle Jets 1 Adelaide United 1
Joshua Thomas
Roar Guru
90+3' United's attack fizzles out with a Jets goal-kick to come. Newcastle Jets 1 Adelaide United 1
Stevo
Roar Rookie
Refereeing at its worst. Should have let the Jets take a quick free but instead the ref held up play to book Kitto. Advantage handed to the side that committed the foul. Stupid.
Joshua Thomas
Roar Guru
90+2' Jets struggling to clear their lines with United pushing for a winner. Newcastle Jets 1 Adelaide United 1
Joshua Thomas
Roar Guru
90+1' Three minutes of injury time to come. Newcastle Jets 1 Adelaide United 1
Joshua Thomas
Roar Guru
90' Kitto handed a yellow after a poor corner sees the Jets counter and Kitto forced to drag down Nabbout. Nabbout himself handed a yellow for mouthing off to Kitto. Newcastle Jets 1 Adelaide United 1
Joshua Thomas
Roar Guru
89' Kitto wins a corner for United, is a late winner on the cards? Newcastle Jets 1 Adelaide United 1
Joshua Thomas
Roar Guru
86' Both sides very sloppy in possession right now with fatigue starting to show. United unable to capitalise on a free-kick down the right. Newcastle Jets 1 Adelaide United 1
Joshua Thomas
Roar Guru
84' Henrique replaced by O'Doherty for United. Newcastle Jets 1 Adelaide United 1
Ben of Phnom Penh
Roar Guru
Decent crowd.
Joshua Thomas
Roar Guru
81' Official attendance figure this afternoon of 9,145. Newcastle Jets 1 Adelaide United 1
Joshua Thomas
Roar Guru
80' Brown chopped down in the Adelaide box after having his options limited. Newcastle Jets 1 Adelaide United 1
Joshua Thomas
Roar Guru
78' Kitto caught offside with Adelaide dominating the ball. Newcastle Jets 1 Adelaide United 1
Joshua Thomas
Roar Guru
74' A great counter led by Clut sees Hoole fed through and though he beats Galekovic he can't get the ball under control with United's defence able to cut him down. Newcastle Jets 1 Adelaide United 1
Joshua Thomas
Roar Guru
73' All three of the Jets substitutions forced by injuries this evening. Newcastle Jets 1 Adelaide United 1