It had all started so well after the Jets took the lead in style with a superb goal by Jobe Wheelhouse after the midfielder had been put through by Matt Thompson.

The pass was fantastic which was matched by the run of Wheelhouse who then despatched the ball past Clint Bolton with a thunderous strike.

As half time approached, the Jets looked comfortable until a Sydney attack that saw the ball bounce fortuitously for John Aloisi who rolled the ball past Ben Kennedy to level the score.

It was a big blow for Branko Culina who would have hoped to get his team in for the break with the one goal advantage.

However, it got worse soon after the restart as the Jets took an age to wake up and looked uncomfortable with the change in line up with Angelo Costanzo making way for Sean Rooney.

The change in defence created space for Sydney and former Jets midfielder Stuart Musialik fired in a speculative long-range effort that seemed to catch Kennedy off guard.

The keeper did not move as the ball whistled past him and into the net to give Sydney the lead, a lead they never let slip.

A late strike from Sydney substitute Chris Payne flattered the Sydney side as Newcastle tried without success to find an equaliser.

The introduction of Ali Abbas and Labinot Haliti provided some more impetus but they lacked a cutting edge.

Captain Matt Thompson was again full of running but he struggled against a team that came fully prepared to stop Newcastle from playing their game.

Sydney closed down any space and dominated possession, giving Musialik the kind of room and time that he needs to do the damage.

Indeed it was a stark reminder of what the Jets do not have.

Musialik was an unsung hero at the Jets.

The club should never have let him go and have never come close to replacing him.

Too many players come and go from the Jets and it continues with the departure of Thompson at the end of this season, with speculation of more players set to leave.

The club needs to step up their approach to current players rather than expecting players to leave and constantly relying on new signings.

Dutch man Donny De Groot was another example of a poor recruitment policy and the striker announced his departure this week after failing to score a single goal during his spell.

A crowd of close to 10,000 was encouraging but I fear for the long term success of a club that has so much promise but what appears to be little ambition.