A remarkable strike from Tommy Oar in the dying stages of Sunday night’s Hyundai A-League fixture has seen Queensland Roar claim a miraculous 3-2 win over Wellington Phoenix at Suncorp Stadium.
Just as the game appeared to be headed for a draw, Wellington captain Andrew Durante was given his marching orders after earning his second yellow card for the match when he brought down Michael Zullo, giving the hosts a free kick just outside the box in extra time.
17-year-old Oar, who came off the bench in the 69th minute, made no mistake, firing an excellent strike into the back of the net to see the Roar claim the three points and send the crowd of 13,115 into jubilant celebrations.
The lively encounter ebbed and flowed throughout, best highlighted by a frenetic start to the second half where a 1-1 score line became 2-2 in a matter of minutes.
Troy Hearfield made the most of a smooth cross from Leo Bertos, making sweet connection with the head to see the visitors reclaim the lead they first established in the eleventh minute through an own goal.
The Roar took less than two minute to bounce back as Sergio van Dijk continued his rich run of form, beating Karl Dodd and making sweet connection with a scrambling strike to slam home his fourth goal in the last five games.
The quick equaliser was a true team goal for the Roar, with a pinpoint pass from Mitch Nichols freeing up Zullo on the wing, who fed van Dijk impeccably.
The match continued to tick along at a high tempo as both sides impressed up front in search of a winner, with goalkeeper Liam Reddy producing a diving one-handed save to knock clear a firm header from Dodd and a scorching Nichols strike coming within centremetres of the target.
Opportunities continued to flow thick and fast for both sides, but it was the Roar who soon took control of the contest as they feverishly peppered Wellington keeper Glen Moss in the dying stages.
Moss almost conceded in the 74th minute when he fumbled a regulation cross from Nichols, with Manny Muscat having to block an on-target strike form Zullo.
The visitors defended desperately, with Muscat, Jonathan McKain and Durante all seeing yellow in the final five minute of the game, but a surging Oar, who impressed off the bench up front, was not to be denied.
Roar coach Frank Farina praised the efforts of Oar, whom he directed to take the free kick.
“It’s no fluke, I can tell you that. He struck it well, a crucial goal for us at a vital stage of the game,” Farina said.
“It doesn’t matter when you get them, but I thought we deserved to get one before that, I thought the team showed great character coming from behind twice to two pretty ordinary goals defensively.”
Phoenix coach Ricki Herbert was upset the two sides did not share the points.
“It’s disappointing, when you come to Queensland, the best defensive side in the league and get your nose in front twice, we should have come away with something,” Herbert said.
“We needed to be better at the end of the day.”
Earlier, both sides started lively and it was Wellington that grabbed the lead early on when Luke DeVere conceded a disastrous own goal in the 11th minute.
Shane Smeltz whipped a regulation cross into the box and despite being under little pressure from Hearfield, the only Phoenix player anywhere near the ball, DeVere attempted an ambitious clearing header, firing the ball low and hard past Reddy.
An initially deflated Roar started to attack soon after and Nichols, in his first Hyundai A-League start, had three great chances to square the game up before drawing the foul that created the equaliser.
A swift Nichols was approaching the penalty box after a great run Durante elected to block the teenager, earning a yellow card for his efforts and giving the home side a free kick in a very dangerous position.
Moss was able to tip van Dijk’s curling strike into the crossbar, but Matt McKay pounced quickly after Moss failed to snaffle the crumbs, tapping in the easiest of goals to level the scores.
Queensland Roar 3 (McKay 38′, van Dijk 48′, Oar 91′)
Wellington Phoenix 2 (DeVere [own goal] 11′, Hearfield 46′)
@ Suncorp Stadium, Crowd: 13,115
