A strike from Benjamin Kantarovski earned the Newcastle Jets a point in their A-League clash against the Brisbane Roar on Saturday.
The visitors almost took the lead in the third minute of the match when Thomas Broich lined up a powerful strike from the edge of the box, but Mark Birighitti made a fine stop to beat the ball away.
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Newcastle came within inches of going ahead as David Carney collected the ball and struck a curling effort from 20 yards, only to see it come crashing off the bar.
The Roar were then denied by the woodwork when Dimitri Petratos found space to drive at goal and took the shot on from distance, and he managed to beat the hand of Birighitti, but his effort cannoned off the post.
The Jets then struck the bar again before half time as Braedyn Crowley latched on to the ball in the box and hammered an effort towards goal, but his strike bounced back off the frame.
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In the second half, the Roar took the lead when Brandon Borrello played a through-ball into the path of Jamie Maclaren, who beat his man with a dummy before slotting the ball past Birighitti.
However, Kantarovski levelled in the 71st minute when he bundled the ball home from close range after the visitors had failed to clear their lines from a corner.
Brisbane pushed to win the match late in the game, but Birighitti produced a fine save to earn his team a share of the spoils as he kept out Maclaren's powerful strike.
The Roar remain top of the table, while the Jets move up into fifth place as a result of their draw.
Simon Sinclair
