Newcastle centre-back Jordan Elsey produced a second-half equaliser as a Jets side hard hit by illness came from behind to draw 1-1 with third-placed Western United at McDonald Jones Stadium on Wednesday night.
The Jets are ninth and cannot make the finals with one game remaining but looked the more likely to take the three points as the game wore on after making a slow start.
Adisu Bayew gave the visitors a 1-0 lead in the 27th minute with a close-range tap-in after Neil Kilkenny waltzed through the Jets defence and provided a neat ball into the goalmouth for his teammate to easily finish.
Samuel Silvera almost pulled off a miraculous wonder goal in the 36th when his long-range effort on the counter-attack from inside the Jets half hit the woodwork.
The Jets came out firing in the second half and Elsey, who was wearing the captain's armband in place of an absent Matt Jurman, put the teams on levels terms with a back-stick header from a Silvera corner in the 52nd.
Beqa Mikeltadze hit the right post in the 62nd minute then Silvera the left in the 74th but the Jets could not find a winner in their final home game of the A-League season.
The result moved the Jets to 29 points but left them in ninth place while Western United's hopes of securing the premier's plate took a hit with one round remaining.
They joined second-placed Melbourne Victory on 45 points. Both teams were one adrift of leaders Melbourne City, who were playing last-placed Perth in Perth late Wednesday night.
The Jets complete their season, and third game in a week, when they take on arch rivals and finals-bound Central Coast (39) in what is expected to be a grudge match at Central Coast Stadium on Saturday night.
Jets coach Arthur Papas was forced to make several late changes to his squad due to illness which had ravaged the team in the lead-up to the game.
"It was an outstanding effort to be honest," Papas said post-match.
"We had eight players out and probably 10 on the field who literally have been stuck in bed all day and, to see that kind of performance with one day less turnaround compared to them as well and how strong we finished that game, I couldn't be more proud of that group of players today.
"We made a call on the line-up at four o'clock. That's how late we had to leave it. I said to the staff, 'We've probably used more Vicks VapoRub than Dencorub today to prepare for this game', and that probably sums up the character of this group to put on a performance like that and we probably should've won that game in the end based on the second half."
"I thought they were better in the first half and then I thought we were outstanding in the second half."
There were five changes to the Jets starting side from their 3-0 win over Macarthur on Sunday. Also still missing was suspended midfielder Daniel Penha.
