Time not on Jets' side

Newcastle Jets assistant coach Mark Jones has questioned the timekeepers after seeing his side concede a late equaliser to draw 1-1 with Adelaide in their Round 13 A-League clash at EnergyAustralia Stadium on Sunday night.

The Jets led from the 56th minute courtesy of a strike by Matt Thompson and looked on track to claim a much-needed win after protecting the one-goal lead until the end of the third minute of extra time.

Despite the fourth official's board saying only three minutes of extra time were to be added, the referee allowed play to continue and awarded the visitors a free kick in the fourth minute of extra time from which Adelaide defender Sasa Ognenovski headed home to snatch a dramatic late draw.

"We thought the 93 minutes was up before the free kick was given but it is the referee's decision to play longer and that is what happened and we still had to defend in that extra bit," a despondent Jones said after the match.

"At the end of the day to concede a goal in the 93rd and whatever extra minute it was, I guess you have to be accountable for everything until the final whistle goes."

Jones, who was standing in for suspended head coach Gary van Egmond, thought his side deserved to win the contest and was devastated to lose in irtually the last play of the game.

"We know we have thrown away two points and at the end of the day you are accountable for your mistakes and I guess we made a mistake in extra time," he said.

"I think we had done more than enough to win the game but I suppose if we had taken all our opportunities we wouldn't be in a position to concede a goal in extra, extra time. And that is what happened."

However Jones did find a couple of positives in the game.

He was proud of the leadership of some senior members in the team and delighted with the commitment of the brigade of youth players, who started the match in place of suspended stars Joel Griffiths and Mark Milligan and Korean playmaker Jin-Hyung Song who rolled his ankle at training the day before the match.

"The senior boys led by example today," he said. "Matt Thompson did everything that was asked of a number 10, he worked hard and a goal and you can't ask for much more. And I thought Adam Griffiths was magnificent as well."

"I thought the performance of the young guys was great in terms of work ethic. I think we worked harder than Adelaide. I thought we outrun them and outworked them and created enough opportunities to win the game and it is extremely disappointing not to win."

The draw leaves the defending A-League champions two wins out of the top four with eight rounds left to play and Jones conceded that the task to make the semis is getting tougher.

"Each week when you don't get maximum points the target seems to get a bit further away," he said.

"It would have been nice to pick up three points, but we will regroup and try to beat Sydney next week and see how the table pans out for us."