Newcastle virtually assured themselves an A-League finals spot with a 2-1 win over a ten-man Adelaide United at Energy Australia Stadium.

Teenage midfielder James Holland headed home the winner in the 72nd minute after goals to A-League leading scorer Joel Griffiths and Adelaide midfielder Lucas Pantelis made it 1-1 at halftime.

United played the entire second half with ten men after midfielder Fabian Barbiero was sent off on the stroke of halftime after receiving two yellow cards.

The win moves the Jets to within two points of joint league leaders Queensland, Central Coast and Sydney FC, who scored a 2-0 win over Wellington earlier.

It also leaves fifth-placed Adelaide five points away from the Jets and needing two wins and other results to go their way in the remaining two rounds to have any chance of qualifying.

Griffiths opened the scoring in the 12th minute after he had won a free kick just three metres outside the penalty area.

The striker looked set to break the defence after latching onto a Scott Tunbridge through ball, before he was brought down by United defender Milan Susak.

Griffiths made the most of the foul, notching his 10th of the season with a sublime header into the corner of the net from Holland's floated free kick.

The striker produced another lively performance, surely impressing Socceroos coach Pim Verbeek, who again watched on from the stands - as he did for Griffiths' brace against Melbourne two rounds ago.

Adelaide had created only a couple of chances for most of the half but found an equaliser in the 41st minute through Pantelis.

Striker Bruce Djite played a neat ball to the midfielder, who cut inside and forced a good save from Ante Covic with his first effort before pouncing on the rebound and smashing the ball home.

But Barbiero was then given his marching orders seconds later when a lunging tackle on Adam Griffiths earned him his second yellow card, after he had already been booked for a foul on Mark Bridge in the 18th minute.

Adelaide squandered a couple of early second-half chances, including a golden one laid on to Travis Dodd by Djite.

But the Jets heaped on the pressure and were rewarded in the 72nd minute when Holland, an 18-year-old mid season signing from the AIS, nodded home from winger Tarek Elrich's cross.

Newcastle missed a stack of chances to put the result beyond doubt late in the game.

Jets coach Gary van Egmond praised the performance of his young players and was relieved his side now had control of its own destiny.

"We spoke about the fact that we wanted to make sure (our season) stays in our own hands and now we are in a situation where we don't have to rely on other people to get results," van Egmond said.

"With two wins in the last two games we can hopefully even push for a top two if all things go well.

"We know it's not over yet though."

The only sour note for the Jets was a late booking to Adam Griffiths, meaning he will miss next week's clash with Central Coast.

Asked whether Adelaide were any chance of still making the finals, United coach Aurelio Vidmar replied "no".

But Vidmar praised his side's performance.

"It was fantastic I thought, we didn't deserve to lose that's for sure," Vidmar said.

"Absolutely no complaints about the effort and we fought right through to the end and gave everything we had."

Asked of Barbiero's send off, Vidmar said: "In my view it wasn't a send off."

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