You could’ve argued Tommy Oar had scored the goal of the season to put Macarthur 1-0 up at Central Coast.
But team-mate Craig Noone’s 90th-minute equaliser, the sixth of an entertaining Isuzu UTE A-League clash, will run it close thanks to the sheer audaciousness and technique to strike a volley, on the run, from an acute angle on the left hand side, to steal a point for his side.
In fact, Noone’s strike was so outlandish, Oar conceded pole position straight after the match!
“On the edge of the box, I learnt you either hit into Row Z or top corner,” he quipped.
“The last 50 have gone Row Z – this one top corner. Pretty happy with that!”
But goal of the season?
“Not sure, I think Nooney pipped me half an hour later.”
First we were all looking at the arms, but with the feet, there was just a touch … enough to set him off balance. At that stage, we all thought the Mariners were the only ones who were going to go on and win the game.
“An absolute worldie of a strike,” enthused Paramount+ co-commentator Daniel McBreen.
“It is going to be on highlights reels for years … It is one of the best strikes I’ve seen! Unbelievable.”
It wasn’t just the quality of the strike to marvel at, but the context and stakes: 90th minute, 3-2 down, and an impossible angle.
“The pressure of the moment … (when you) need to pull out something special,” marvelled Paramount+ pundit Georgia Yeoman-Dale.
The former Matilda also enjoyed Oar’s strike, but was critical of the Mariners’ defensive work that gave the Macarthur midfielder the time to shoot.
“Yes, he’s hit it brilliantly but he shouldn’t get the chance to start with,” she observed.
“They were so worried about the tall players defending set pieces … (they forgot about Oar).”
In between those two headlines, the Mariners thought they’d bagged all three points, coming from 2-0 down to take a 3-2 lead, thanks to two second-half penalties.
Macarthur went into the break 2-1 up courtesy of Oar’s stunning, perfectly executed volley, and then Adrian Mariappa’s close range finish; but the hosts breathed life into the game when a positive raid forward was turned into his own net by Aleksandar Šušnjar.
Moudi Najjar then had a shocker, giving away two second-half penalties, converted by Oliver Bozanic, and then Moresche.
