Adelaide’s bleak start to the A-League season continues after a scoreless draw with Newcastle.

The Reds remain the league’s sole winless club after failing to crack a defensive Jets in Sunday’s fixture at Coopers Stadium.

Newcastle, despite not generating a shot on goal all match, remain in fifth spot – just three points adrift from leaders Brisbane Roar.

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The Jets rarely attacked but Adelaide created few clear-cut chances – and the best of them were thwarted by Newcastle goalkeeper Mark Birighitti.

Birighitti, a former understudy to Adelaide captain Eugene Galekovic, produced some stunning saves to deny Adelaide a breakthrough win.

Birighitti was solid in a tepid opening half in which Adelaide lost central defender Osama Malik to a right hamstring injury in the fifth minute.

The Jets gloveman frustrated Adelaide with two saves in the opening half – diving low to his right to deflect an Isaias long-range strike, and later halting a powerful Craig Goodwin shot.

And Birighitti’s influence grew in the second stanza with another pair of top-shelf saves.

In the 63rd minute, Reds midfielder Jimmy Jeggo curled a cross into the box which evaded a crowd of players and was destined to sneak into the side netting, only for Birighitti to lunge to his left and fingertip the ball to safety.

Just eight minutes later, Birighitti produced another sterling effort: Jeggo took aim with a 20-metre bullet which the Jet ‘keeper, diving high, tipped over the bar with his right glove.

Newcastle, on a rare attacking foray just minutes from fulltime, thought they pinched a winner when a header from Jason Hoffman rolled into the net – only for an offside ruling to consign the result to a stalemate.

Despite the drawn result, Adelaide coach Guillermo Amor said he could see some promising signs.

“We had a lot of control, we had a lot of chances,” he said.

“For us I thought it was a good game, it wasn’t an easy game for us given our situation which is a difficult situation.”

Newcastle coach Scott Miller said he was more than satisfied with taking a point from the match.

“For a club like Newcastle and the situation we have found ourselves in the last couple of years, I think a point away from home is a superb effort,” he said.

“To have a clean sheet, come away with a point against a club like Adelaide which has been so strong over the last three or four years, I think it’s a superb day.”

– AAP