The Jets were 2-0 up after goal from Labinot Haliti and Michael Bridges when the two sides clashed angrily in midfield after a John Hutchinson tackle sparked furious scenes.

Mariners skipper Alex Wilkinson believed the altercation fired up his side and led to Adam Kwasnik's goal, albeit a little too late.

"They're always pretty intense, this one didn't take too long to boil over but it's just the boys showing their passion," said Wilkinson. "After that melee our boys started to fire up and started to play a bit better.

"It shouldn't have to take something like that for us to get out of the blocks so well like we did last week. t's just a shame we can't back it up and get those two elusive wins in a row, it's pretty frustrating."

He added: "They came out and rattled us a bit, and two very soft goals on our part is disappointing on our part, seeing as we've been defending quite well. After that I thought we were the better team.

"In the second half we huffed and puffed and created a few half chances but nothing clear cut. We ran out of ideas a little bit, we had a lot of possession but couldn't get the final ball through or the final touch on goal, so all in all, a pretty frustrating night."

Coach Lawrie McKinna admitted the game lived up to its intense pre-match hype - but was frustrated that the final scoreline didn't reflect the effort his side invested into the clash.

"We knew it was going to be a hard game," said McKinna. "We've said all week Newcastle is in a false position, but in the first 15 to 20 minutes they were on top of us, they were harassing us.

"When we settled down and gained possession we were very comfortable, but early on we were rushing things. They closed us down well, and from our point of view it was two scrappy goals."

He added: "Very disappointing, coming here and winning tonight we'd be right back in the mix, now we're back in the scrap with everybody else.

"We'll be celebrating when we win two games, but credit to Newcastle, the first 15 minutes got them the game.

"We played some nice football, we kept possession and when we did keep possession and move the ball about we caused them problems, but when we turned it over they were on to it.

"It's very frustrating you can go out and play some good football, dominate the second half, and not get anything, but that's the A-League."

He added: "We're just disappointed. You don't want to get beaten by your local rivals. We've done well for 60 (minutes) but it's not enough.

"We came into the game and had chances, we dominated the second half but it wasn't enough. We had great opportunities for a great cross or a great cut back but we just weren't composed enough in the last couple of minutes,"