The Newcastle Jets and Central Coast fought out an entertaining scoreless draw in front of 14,169 fans on Sunday, allowing the Mariners to stretch their lead to five points atop the A-League ladder.

Newcastle remained fourth.

Plenty of opportunities were created in the perfect conditions but neither side could break the dead-lock.

Mario Jardel may have earned another chance at starting for the Jets with his best performance in the A-League thus far.

But the marquee player may be in trouble for what appeared to be an attempted to eye gouge of John Hutchinson.

The former Brazil international, starting at the insistence of millionaire owner Con Constantine, found himself in space on a couple of occasions and drew wild cheers from the crowd each time team-mates tried to find him with crosses.

The former European Golden boot winner, who played 57 minutes before being replaced, had started only once before and averaged just 22 minutes per game, hardly justifying his reportedly $10,000 per week salary.

Mariners forward Sasho Petrovski had the best chance of the first stanza when his one on one shot from an awkward angle was well saved by Jets keeper Ante Covic.

Jardel's replacement Jason Hoffman had an almost immediate impact on the hour when he latched onto a loose ball and had his shot from near the edge of the box beat Central Coast goal keeper Danny Vukovic only to see his effort rap against the left upright back into play where Denni was unable to control the rebound.

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP