Tarek Elrich scored his first goal of the season to give Newcastle Jets a 1-0 victory over Adelaide United on Friday night, effectively putting United out of contention for the A-League finals.

The Jets, at least temporarily, climbed over the Melbourne Heart and Sydney FC into 5th spot on the table.

Adelaide’s night took a turn for the worse when Francisco Usucar limped out of a challenge with an injured hamstring after 19 minutes, forcing coach John Kosmina to make an early change.

Persistent fouling from both teams created a stop start affair but when Jeremy Brockie hit a shot over the bar on 34 minutes after some good lead-up play from Ryan Griffiths it was clear the home side felt Adelaide’s defence was tiring.

The deadlock was broken five minutes later when Elrich slotted home his first of the season after great vision from Francis Jeffers.

Neither side created any real scoring opportunities in the second half.

Newcastle’s Michael Bridges went close late with a strong volley only just off target but he was offside.