The race for the A-League Men premiers plate is set to kick up a gear after Newcastle snatched a 1-1 draw with 10-man leaders Auckland FC.
A stunning long-range strike from Eli Adams in the 12th minute handed the lead to Newcastle, who had won three on the bounce.
The Jets earned the chance to double their lead from the penalty spot in the 20th minute but Alex Paulsen, who turned on a masterclass, denied Kosta Grozos.
Jesse Randall headed home the equaliser 17 minutes later.
Auckland played the last 20 minutes with 10 men after midfielder Louis Verstraete received a straight red card.
They are now just six points clear of Western United, seven clear of Melbourne City and eight ahead of Melbourne Victory and Adelaide United, while the Jets are nine points outside the top six.
Newcastle took the lead when Adams received the ball just inside his own half then burned off the Auckland defence, bursting towards the edge of the area then unleashing a vicious strike home off the inside of the post.
Paulsen brilliantly denied Lachie Rose soon afterwards and Adams blazed the rebound wide.
The Jets should have made it 2-0 after Nando Pijnaker was penalised for the ball clattering off his arm, but Grozos's penalty was poor and Paulsen batted it away.
It proved a turning point and Randall thought he'd equalised with a wonderful curling strike a minute later, but was offside in the lead-up.
Auckland equalised when Guillermo May burst forward then worked the ball for skipper Hiroki Sakai to whip in a cross for Randall to nod home.
Paulsen brilliantly denied Lachlan Bayliss a minute into the second half, while Noah James batted away a Marlee Francois strike a minute later.
Verstraete received his marching orders in the 75th, following a VAR review that upgraded a yellow card to a red, after catching Charles M'Mombwa in the thigh with his studs when challenging for the ball.
Auckland had the ball in the back of the net in the 81st minute but it came off Tommy Smith's arm, while Grozos fired a late free kick over the bar.
"Extremely slow (start) from our point of view," Corica said.
"But we knew Newcastle would come out like that, because they're in a good run at the moment, unbeaten now in six.
"Robbie (Jets coach Rob Stanton) is doing a great job with them, and they played really good football in the first half, definitely dominated the game in the first half.
"But we got back into it with the goal, and I thought we were looking strong in the second half."
Newcastle have a tight turnaround and travel to face Melbourne City on Wednesday, while Auckland host Central Coast next Sunday.
"We look at it as a challenge against a very, very good team, very good club, well resourced, top players," coach Stanton said.
"And that's you want - to test yourself.
"You want to play the best, just like Auckland, just like Western at the moment, and certainly Melbourne City sit in the same boat."
