The biggest cheer of the night came when Agostino put the ball in the back of the net, only for the goal to be ruled out for a foul on the edge of the area.

Agostino was deemed to have pushed Jets defender Stephen Laybutt into ‘keeper Ante Covic allowing the former 1860 Munich forward to score into an empty net.

Replays suggested the referee got it right but that didn’t stop Agostino’s disappointment with the decision.

“Very harsh, I’ll have to have a look at that one,” said Agostino. “I think they basically collided into each other and that’s what forced the ball to roll to me.

“It’s a bit disappointing because going a goal down we started to take a few more risks, started to throw things forward a bit more and deserved the equaliser.

“Then we were looking good to snatch it so that was disappointing at the end.”

However Newcastle head coach Gary Van Egmond saw the disallowed goal very differently.

“I saw the ball go into the back of the net and thought my goodness, I’ve just dragged Durante and put Stephen on and he’s caused a calamity,” said Van Egmond.

“But when you see it on replay it was a decent shove that he got and it was the right result from Breeze.”

Both Van Egmond and Reds coach Aurelio Vidmar were in forgiving mood after the match.

Joel Griffiths had put the visitors in front with a typical poachers goal before Travis Dodd returned the favour with a well taken header.

The result maintains the status quo of the top four and keeps both Adelaide and the Jets locked on 18 points a piece in third and fourth.

“It was a bit of a cagey game I thought,” said Aurelio Vidmar.

“We probably looked like two teams coming off two losses. No one really wanted to give an inch. I thought our structure was pretty good, we looked pretty solid at the back.

“We have to give Newcastle a bit of credit because they got numbers behind the ball and really didn’t give us the opportunity to let loose with a shot from outside the box or any shot really because they defended so well.”

Earlier in the week Vidmar had suggested there was no room for error as United looked to maintain their charge to the finals.

“It was a game we needed to win absolutely," he said. "The weeks are running by, there’s eight weeks left now. Next week is a must win for us.”

Worryingly for the Reds though is another knee injury sustained by Jason Spagnuolo in a tough 50/50 challenge heard around Hindmarsh Stadium.

Vidmar added: “We don’t know the extent of it yet but he went into the tackle and was a little bit off balance.

“It could be a medial ligament but he seems to be okay with it at the moment. We’ll have to wait until tomorrow.”

The Jets coach also echoed Vidmar’s analysis of the game seeing the draw as the right result for both sides.

“I thought a draw was a fairly even result given the chances with both teams. I thought 1-1 was fairly even for how the game was played,” he said.

“To get something out of the game in Adelaide is always pleasing. It’s probably one of the hardest places to come and get anything. I thought the effort by the boys was tremendous.”

Van Egmond was understandably disappointed to concede an equaliser but preferred to take a diplomatic approach.

He added: “I think sometimes you’ve got to give credit where credit is due.

"It was a great ball in and a decent header. We’ll go back to the training paddock and work on it again as we did this week and get ready for the Central Coast.”