Sydney FC NPL 2 Men’s 1st grade shared the spoils in a physical encounter against Mounties Wanderers at Cook Park Mt Pritchard on Wednesday night.
The fixture was played mid week due to the original clash being washed out two weeks ago.
In what proved to be a game of two halves Sydney FC battled back from a two goal deficit at the break to earn a point.
Mounties took the early advantage in the 12th minute when they were awarded a penalty following a tackle from behind by Patrick Flottman. The spot kick was duly converted and Mounties led 1-0.
Sydney FC controlled lots of possession and had some chances only to be foiled by desperate defending or near misses. In a cruel twist a free kick in the 40th minute by Bai Antoniou smashed off the cross bar and bounced back into the path of Mounties who broke in transition and scrambled in a second goal to lead 2-0 at the half time break.
Head coach Rob Stanton did not mince his words in the sheds and he received the response he was looking for in the second half.
The Sky Blues were on the scoreboard after just four minutes as William Mutch, making his starting debut, penetrated down the right side and provided the assist for Charles Lokolingoy to drive home the ball and it was 2-1.
Sydney FC drew level after 62 minutes when their relentless pressure saw Nicola Kuleski weave into the penalty box and shoot the ball low inside the far post for 2-2.
The second half was all Sydney as wave after wave of Sky Blue jerseys pushed forward searching for a winner. Mounties were truly on the back foot except for the occasional long ball into the Sydney defensive half and shot from outside the area.
With Sydney FC enjoying 60-70% of the possession the opportunity came in added time when Daniel Araujo was cynically upended in the box and the ref once again pointed to the spot. The usually reliable Antoniou stepped up and powered his shot towards the top corner only to see it smack the woodwork and bounce to safety.
Sydney FC will need to dust themselves off as they prepare for their third match in seven days when they face an improving Mt Druitt Rangers at Popondetta Park, Emerton on Saturday, 18th June kick off at 7.00pm.
Sydney FC 2 (Lokolingoy 49′; Kuleski 62′) drew Mounties Wanderers 2
Line Up: Nick Sorras (GK); Nicola Kuleski; Patrick Flottman; George Timotheou; Cristian Gonzalez; Daniel Araujo (C); Chris Zuvela; Aaron Avery (Matt Green); Charles Lokolingoy (Mani Gonzalez); Bai Antoniou; William Mutch
Subs Not Used: Mitch Evans (GK); Juan Zapata; Brendan Curtis
