LIVE: Newcastle Jets v Sydney FC A depleted Sydney FC will be looking to Alessandro Del Piero for inspiration against Newcastle Jets. FOLLOW all the action with our rolling coverage of Newcastle Jets' crunch A-League clash with Sydney FC at Hunter Stadium. 32 MINS: The Jets almost score again as Ryan Griffiths latches on to a throw-in and thumps a left-footed volley goalwards. Seb Ryall is able to block it but Newcastle get a corner. And almost score! Peter Triantis is Sydney's saviour as he clears an inswinging ball off the line with his head. That was close. 29 MINS: More good work down the right from Newcastle, this time with Scott Neville slicing into the Sydney penalty area. He cuts the ball back for Craig Goodwin but his shot is blocked. 28 MINS: Sydney might be missing a whole host of key players but they do still have Alessandro Del Piero, who's causing a few problems for the Jets defenders. The Italian shows lovely control as he carts the ball forward under pressure from four players before eventually the Jets recover possession. 26 MINS: James Brown gets free on the right for Newcastle and whips in an inviting cross for Emile Heskey. But Adam Griffiths is there to head the ball to safety for Sydney. 23 MINS: Phew, we're able to take a breath. The game has slowed down a little after what was a frenetic five minutes or so. Josh Brillante tries to fire it up again with a shot from distance for the Jets but it's off target. 15 MINS: Penalty! Just minutes after Del Piero's opener Newcastle earns a spot kick after Rhyan Grant is adjudged to have clipped Ryan Griffiths as the Jets striker charged into the penalty box. Sydney FC - and in particular Del Piero - aren't happy but the penalty stands. Griffiths makes no mistake from the spot, tucking the penalty away in the bottom right corner. His brother, Adam Griffiths, earlier earned himself a yellow card for arguing the decision. 12 MINS: What a start for Sydney FC! And what a shocker from the Jets. You can't give Alessandro Del Piero a chance like that and expect to get away with it. Connor Chapman is caught in possession on the edge of his own penalty box and the ball falls to that man Del Piero who calmly fires home to give the Sky Blues an early lead. The Sky Blues have barely seen the ball but are 1-0 up. 10 MINS: Seb Ryall makes a great interception for Sydney FC, lunging to cut out a dangerous cross from Ryan Griffiths inside the visitors' penalty box. The Jets get a corner but Craig Goodwin's delivery is too deep. 5 MINS: Not the fastest start to this game. The first real highlight is Scott Neville winning an attacking throw-in for the Jets. But his long throw is - eventually - cleared. NEWCASTLE JETS: Mark Birighitti, Scott Neville, Connor Chapman, Josh Mitchell, Andrew Hoole, Ruben Zadkovic, James Brown, Johsua Brillante, Ryan Griffiths, Emile Heksey, Craig Goodwin. Bench: Zenon Caravella, James Virgili, Michael Bridges, Jack Duncan. SYDNEY FC: Vedran Janjetovic, Nathan Sherlock, Sebastian Ryall, Adam Griffiths, Rhyan Grant, Terry McFlynn, Peter Triantis, Terry Antonis, Alessanrdo Del Piero, Ali Abbas, Blake Powell. Bench: Paul Reid, Joel Chianese, Trent McClenahan, Ivan Necevski. It's the battle of the marquee men - Newcastle's Emile Heskey up against Sydney star Alessandro Del Piero - but where are the support casts? You could just about piece together a handy team from the players missing from this match. Sydney FC were already without Brett Emerton, Yairo Yau, Fabio and Tiago Calvano before only late yesterday learning Joel Griffiths would also be unavailable. The former Jets striker will miss taking on his old club - and a couple more games - after copping a three-match ban for abusing an assistant referee last week. Newcastle, meanwhile, are missing Jobe Wheelhouse after his shock departure mid-week and left-back Sam Gallaway. At least they can call upon Ruben Zadkovich and Josh Mitchell, who return from suspension. This is a crunch clash for both sides as they try and stay in the race for the finals.