Ninety minutes of frustration, two goal-line clearances, two rattles of the woodwork, and then one last long throw into the chaos. The Redbacks left Larissa Reserve with a 1-1 draw against North Sunshine Eagles, and rarely has a single point taken so much earning.
Eltham controlled long stretches of the first half without the reward to show for it. A free kick caused havoc in the six-yard box and came back off the post, Rory Brian produced a point-blank save from a flicked-on set piece, and the frame of the goal denied the Redbacks a second time just before the interval. Sandwiched between those moments came the sucker punch. Against the run of play in the 41st minute, Alex Marmura got free down the flank and cut a low ball across for Rai James Dos Santos, who finished from close range to put the Eagles ahead at the break.
The second half became a siege. A double change at the interval brought Marco Rojas and Dylan Bresolin into the attack and Eltham pinned North Sunshine into their own third for most of the 45. The home side defended their lead with everything, Deng Mayen throwing himself in the way of a goal-bound effort on the line, Brian clawing away a chip and then smothering a low drive from Rojas, and a diving block denying Rojas again as the pressure mounted. The Eagles nearly stole it on the counter too, and it took Finn Diamond’s own goal-line clearance, hooking away Ali Al Sheikh’s effort, to keep the Redbacks alive in the game.
The equaliser, when it finally came in the 91st minute, was pure Eltham. Josh Dennett launched one of his trademark long throws into the heart of the six-yard box, the ball bobbled through a crowd of bodies, and Josh Millar reacted quickest to force it over the line. The celebrations on the pitch and in the away dugout said everything about what the point was worth, and the Redbacks pushed for a winner through six minutes of added time without finding one.
The wider picture keeps its shape. Eltham sit fifth on 32 points, two behind fourth-placed Melbourne Victory, with sixth-placed Bulleen two back and holding a game in hand, so the finals race remains a coin toss with five rounds to play. The under 23s made their own statement earlier in the day with a 4-0 win. A draw away from home at a ground where the hosts fought for everything is a point kept rather than two lost, and the response it took to get it says plenty about this group.
FC Melbourne Srbija visit The Web on Friday night. Back on the synthetic, back in front of the home crowd, and a chance to turn one point into four inside a week.
Up the ‘Backs.