JETS coach Ernie Merrick doubts he will see a goal like it again - keeper Glen Moss hopes he is right.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Riley McGree, with the aid of a gusting south-westerly, hit a ferocious left-foot inswinging corner that would have rattled the castle of an in-form Steve Smith.
Moss, who had batted a similar effort over the bar a minute earlier, reacted late but could only get a fingertip to the ball as it whizzed into the top left corner.
The spectacular strike capped a second-half comeback from Adelaide and resigned the Jets to a 2-1 loss.
McGree delivered the first dagger in the 49th minute, making a late run into the box and unleashing a first-time effort into the left corner.
Until that point, the match had been the Jets for the taking.
"The second half we started poorly and conceded a goal after four minutes, through switching off," Merrick lamented. "They had two players who were completely free. Either one of them could have scored. You can't work out why two players could switch off after a particularly good first half.
"They got the second goal from a corner kick which will probably never happen again."
The Jets led 1-0 at the break after a stunner from Panamanian Abdiel Arroyo, but could - and probably should - have led by more.
They were camped at the Reds' end for long periods, led the shot count 12-4, delivered 22 balls into the box and earned four corners to two.
Adelaide coach Gertjan Verbeek admitted the visitors, who won the FFA Cup on Wednesday night, were fortunate to still be in the game at the break.
"We were lucky that the opponent was not making two or three goals with the possibilities they had," Verbeek said. "We saw the other Adelaide United in the second half, and I think we did it well."
In a positive for the Jets, Ben Kantarovski made a successful return from a hamstring injury, which allowed Merrick to change formation to a diamond midfield in the second half.
"I like that shape with Ben in there," Merrick said. "We will do more work on it to give us another option in attack."
Next for the Jets, who have one point from two games, are Sydney FC at Leichhardt Oval on Friday night.
"A short turnaround when you lose a game at home like that is good," Merrick said.
"I think the fans would have been proud of the effort. I don't think there was any doubt that they worked very hard to try achieve something at the end, to get a point out of the game. It didn't work but there was no lack of effort."
