COFFS United and Northern Storm lit up a rainy Saturday night with a pulsating 1-1 draw in the Anzac Cup under the floodlights at Coffs Coast Synthetic.
The contest exploded out of the blocks, with Lions striker Marty Kelleher almost handing his side the perfect start. After rounding the goalkeeper, Kelleher looked certain to score – only for Storm defender Ethan Andrews to pull off a heroic, last-gasp clearance to deny a certain opener.
Both sides traded blows in a frenetic first half, but it was the Lions who finished the stronger – yet neither could find the back of the net before the break.
For much of the second half, it seemed a goalless stalemate was inevitable.
That was until the 82nd minute when Chris Dooley conjured a moment of magic.
Pouncing on a wayward Storm free-kick, Coffs United surged forward in numbers.
Dooley collected a clever pass, glided past two defenders with a pair of cheeky feints, then rifled a shot into the bottom corner.
His acrobatic backward somersault celebration was every bit as stunning as the goal itself.
But just as the Lions looked set to claim the points, Storm’s teenage prodigy Matt Newbury had other ideas.
With five minutes remaining, Newbury coolly drilled a low shot into the corner to snatch a share of the spoils – sending the Storm faithful into raptures.
Coffs United coach Connor Knight provided insights from the coach’s box.
“The boys set up really well and our defensive shape was solid for a majority of the game,” he said.
“The wet surface made it a bit difficult to play our game as well as we are capable of but we still managed to create a few great attacking opportunities that unfortunately we couldn’t convert.
“Storm were able to use their momentum well and had several periods of sustained pressure on the ball, though I think as a whole our shape was solid and we were able to move into the defensive transition fairly quickly. “Unfortunately we weren’t able to maintain the late lead and conceded at the death for the draw,” Knight said.
Northern Storm coach Craig Caruana reflected on the hard fought match.
“[I was] very happy with our game play, especially in the second half where we were able to apply a lot of pressure without any reward and were unlucky with a goal that was ruled out for offside after some good lead up play,” he said.
“Was disappointed with some of our decision making in key moments.
“It cost us a goal in the first half when the goal was wide open and a simple pass would have seen a tap in from six yards; and again in the second half, after applying pressure for a good period of time failed to clean up a clearance and got punished on the counter attack.
“But after going down a goal we didn’t drop our heads and went straight back on the attack and got our reward.”
By David WIGLEY
