COFFS City United pulled off a stunning second-half fightback to sink Westlawn Tigers 4-2 in a rain-disrupted Men’s Premier League clash on Saturday.
Originally scheduled for 3pm at McLean Street, the fixture was hastily relocated to the Coffs Coast Synthetics after torrential rain rendered the Lions’ home ground unplayable.
Kick-off was delayed an hour, but the Tigers didn’t miss a beat.
Travelling down from Grafton, Westlawn burst out of the blocks and looked poised for a statement win after Lochlan Elward converted from the penalty spot on the half-hour mark, then doubled the lead with a second in the 57th minute.
But the Lions weren’t done.
Martin Kelleher sparked the revival just three minutes later with a towering header to halve the deficit, and the momentum shifted hard in Coffs’ favour.
Chris Dooley drew the hosts level after a defensive mix-up, then sent the home crowd into raptures with a mazy dribble capped off with a rocket into the top corner and a celebratory backflip to match.
William Hodgson sealed the result in the 88th minute, scrambling home a fourth to complete the comeback and secure a vital three points in the title race.
The win keeps United second on the ladder, two points behind leaders Woolgoolga Wolves and four ahead of the third-placed Yamba Breakers, both of whom have a game in hand.
Lions coach Connor Knight was relieved and impressed in equal measure.
“It definitely wasn’t the position we’d hope to find ourselves in, early in the second half, down two goals,” Knight said.
“It’s a strong credit to Westlawn who were able to play great passages of football and coordinate a high press that frustrated our ability to stay on the ball.
“It would have been easy for the boys to sink a little after seeing that second goal go in, but the reaction was extremely positive and you could always feel that once we got that first one into the net that there was almost an inevitable feeling of more goals.
“[It] was a very disrupted afternoon of football with the rain but the three points and strong display of resilience caps it off nicely.
“Big result for us to keep the pressure on Woopi going into the last few rounds.”
By David WIGLEY
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