North Queensland Fury and Adelaide United have played out a thrilling 3-3 draw at Hindmarsh Stadium on Friday night.
United was in the box seat to collect the three points when it led 2-1 midway through the second half but two goals in the space of four minutes saw the Fury take an unlikely lead.
The 10,773 crowd was stunned but were brought back to life when a hand ball call on Dyron Daal in the box during injury-time handed Adelaide a late reprieve.
Lucas Pantelis took the penalty kick and coolly delivered the ball into the right hand corner of the net.
Both teams will be disappointed not to come away with the win but North Queensland will feel the most aggrieved given its many missed opportunities.
Adelaide United coach Aurelio Vidmar said his team was lucky to collect a point from the contest.
“If you are on the park you need to be committed and desperate and we are desperate for probably 10 per cent of the time and that’s just not good enough,” he said.
His North Queensland counterpart Ian Ferguson was equally disappointed to miss out on the victory but was pleased with his team’s performance.
“I don’t know what it was like (to watch) on TV but watching how they played and moved the ball was fantastic. If we keep playing like that and we keep getting that balance right it’s only going to get better for us,” Ferguson said.
After the Reds generated a couple of early chances it was Robbie Fowler who scored the first goal five minutes into the contest.
The Fury captain charged into the box, swooped on a beautiful James Robinson cross and kept the ball low to beat Eugene Galekovic through the pace of his strike rather than its direction.
It took Adelaide some time to regroup but when it did it bounced back in impressive fashion.
At the 23rd minute Pantelis controlled a cross from Michael Marrone with his left foot and then kicked with his right to pass goalkeeper Paul Henderson.
The stand-in captain was delighted with his effort and his celebrations included a rock-a-bye-baby mime.
His theatrics were overshadowed 10 minutes later when he set up Lloyd Owusu for his first goal for the Reds.
The big striker headed a Pantelis cross and watched as the ball slowly bounced clear of Henderson and across the goal line.
Owusu performed a weird rap-style dance before beckoning supporters to lift their voice for the home team – and a new Hindmarsh Stadium favourite was born.
Adelaide was bravely defending during the second half before substitute Daal found the equaliser in the 83rd minute.
A long midfield pass found the Reds’ defenders out of position and a composed Daal guided the ball home as Galekovic confronted him on the edge of the box.
Four minutes later fellow substitute Fred Agius set up Daniel McBreen for a score at close range.
Earlier in the contest, Adelaide began the game with some second-rate football. An early shower made conditions difficult but some of its attempts to knock the ball around were disappointing.
A rusty Mark Rudan, in his first start for the Reds, cleared two balls directly to Fowler and was lucky he didn’t cost his side another goal.
In the end it was the energy and run of Pantelis and the competitive of spirit of Owusu every time the ball was moved forward which dragged the Reds out of their doldrums.
North Queensland trailed at the break but had every reason to enter the second half with optimism given its own positive play and scoring opportunities.
Its best chance, apart from the goal, came in the 32 minute when Robinson hammered a ball straight at Galekovic before sending the ball over the cross bar on his second attempt.
The Fury were centimetres away from finding the equaliser four minutes into the second half. Fowler released Rostyn Griffiths who cleared Galekovic but his kick cannoned off the crossbar.
At the 70th minute a pre-meditated one-two play from a corner freed up Ufuk Talay who hammered a ball through the Reds’ defence but into the woodwork.
And moments later Daniel McBreen blazed away but was way off target.
North Queensland’s attacking mindset was rewarded but it couldn’t hold on for maximum points.
Adelaide United 3 (Pantelis 23, 90, Owusu 33 )
North Queensland Fury 3 (Fowler 5, Daal 83, McBreen 87)
Crowd: 10,773 at Hindmarsh Stadium
