A stunning strike from distance by midfielder Isobel Dalton rescued a last-gasp point for Perth Glory in an entertaining 2-2 draw with Canberra United on Saturday night.
Michelle Heyman scored her 11th goal of the season to open the scoring in the first half but Susan Phonsongkham brought the hosts level at Macedonia Park with a clinical finish. Heyman doubled her tally just before half-time and that’s how the score remained until stoppage time when Dalton found the top-left corner from outside the box to steal a point back for Perth.
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Heyman opened the scoring in the ninth minute with a close-range finish, tucking home Nickoletta Flannery’s cross off the right flank after a neat piece of interplay between Heyman and Vesna Milivojevic.
Canberra’s lead would last until the 35-minute mark when Phonsongkham broke her 10-game scoreless run with a classy finish from just inside the box.
Sofia Sakalis delivered into the area and Millie Farrow’s controlled touch into Phonsongkham’s path was sublime; the Glory number 10 did the rest with a left-footed curler.
But Heyman wasn’t intent on heading into half-time on level terms. Flannery provided the assist once again with a cutback cross that Heyman hit first time off the bar and over the line.
Ten minutes after the break, Glory were impacted by an injury to No.1 goalkeeper Morgan Aquino; after a lengthy delay Aquino made way for Young Matildas goalkeeper Sally James and play resumed with Glory chasing a 2-1 deficit.
The hosts responded well in the second half despite the loss of their goalkeeper to injury. Farrow came close with an attempt on the turn near the edge of the area but couldn’t trouble Chloe Lincoln in goal for the visitors.
Dalton tried her luck from range as Perth ramped up the pressure but Lincoln’s diving save kept the midfielder off the scoresheet.
It looked as though Canberra would hold on to take all three points and notch back-to-back league victories before Dalton produced a cracking finish to ensure the points were shared, firing from outside the box into the top-left corner in the 92nd minute.
