A-League: Newcastle Jets and Melbourne City battle for draw in Tamworth

Instead, what was produced was an attritional display of hard-graft football which saw neither team truly able to gain the ascendancy at Scully Park.

It might have been due to the energy-sapping heat, or the fact it was a friendly, but the 1-1 draw had some positives for Jets midfielder Angus Thurgate.

"It is what it is, it's a friendly match but we always go out trying to win," Thurgate said.

"At the end of the day, we put a good performance in. We probably could have scored a couple more goals, but we know where we need to work."

It quickly became clear from the outset what the pattern of the match would be.

Neither team was able to settle in the opposition half, and scoring opportunities were few and far between. It looked for a moment as though things might quicken up when, in the 23^rd minute, Newcastle's Beka Mikeltadze pounced on a free ball in the goal box for the first score of the game.

But 1-0 remained the margin until well into the second half.

The Jets made good use of the opportunity to test out a number of their players, and there were some brief moments of tension after a couple of late tackles spurred yellow cards from the referee.

But Norwegian national Valon Berisha produced the moment of the game with a volley which he belted into the lower left corner of the net to level the score for Melbourne FC.

That, however, was it for memorable moments in the game, which ended in a draw.

Also read: Injured jockey Matthew Palmer recuperating at home after leaving hospital

There was a silver lining to be drawn, however, as Thurgate was pleased with the performance the Jets put in against the top-ranked side, and said they came away with clear areas in which they can improve.

"I think we need to dominate the game for longer periods," he said.

"We had stages in the first half when we were playing good football, but playing like that on a more consistent basis is the key."

The Jets have spent much of the last week training and holding meets with the locals.

Thurgate was pleased with the facilities available, and spoke eagerly about the prospect of Tamworth one day hosting a men's A-League fixture.

"I don't see why not," he said.

"The facilities out here are great, and the fans came out today as well, which is good to see. We enjoyed playing out here."

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: