By Daniel Baricevic (@danielbara4)

A nine-man Bulleen Lions outfit has managed to hang on to a 3-3 draw at David Barro Stadium with Richmond, in a thrilling match which will go down as arguably the best of the NPL1 season so far.

First-half goals from Dean Romas and Paul Harvey put Bulleen in what seemed to be an unassailable position heading into the break, but two early second-half red cards to the Romas and defender Samuel Borghesi sparked Richmond’s revival.

A James Stefanou goal right after Borghesi’s sending off had the travelling Richmond contingent confident of a comeback win, however Bulleen’s impressive striker Joseph Katebian put a severe dent in those hopes after he dinked the ball over the top of Richmond goalkeeper Matt Hrastov and coolly finished in between two defenders to once again give Bulleen some breathing space.

The drama didn’t end there as Richmond clawed its way back into the game through substitute Hamlet Armenian, before the ever-present Tom Cahill levelled the scores with only minutes left on the clock, breaking the hearts of a gallant Bulleen side which played most of the second half with nine men.

Despite the match beginning rather cagily, Bulleen created the best of the early chances as Katebian showed signs of the danger he would pose the Richmond defence all evening, and it was his free kick on the edge of the area that was met by Romas to give the home side the lead.

As the game began to open up, Grant Brebner’s Richmond side began to get on top through the efforts of striker Cahill, who was causing Bulleen’s defence all sorts of problems, but it was to no avail as Bulleen doubled its advantage through Paul Harvey, who rounded Richmond ‘keeper Hrastov and made no mistake with his finish, sending it into the bottom-right corner.

The momentum swung Richmond’s way after the Bulleen duo of Borghesi and Romas were both shown red within minutes of each other for poor tackles, and the away side hit back through James Stefanou who used his chest to turn in a Josh Knight free kick.

But Richmond’s joy was short-lived as Katebian’s goal put the home side 3-1 ahead with half an hour to play.

However, the introduction of substitute Armenian provided to spark the away side needed, and it was his close-range finish which put the away side back into the game.

It was Armenian who then laid on the cross for Cahill, who finished easily from inside the six-yard box to nab the leveller in the 88th minute.

It was a bittersweet result for Richmond manager Grant Brebner, who couldn’t hide his anguish on his side’s inability to capitalise on its numerical advantage.  

“It’s very disappointing to be honest, it’s a game we should have won in the end,” Brebner said.

“At halftime we looked completely out of it, we fought back but it’s still very, very disappointing.

“We really should have won.”

Next week, Bulleen makes the tough trip to Elcho Park to take on North Geelong Warriors, while Richmond plays host to a Kingston City side fresh off a loss to St Albans.

MATCH DETAILS

FC Bulleen Lions 3 (Romas 8’, Harvey 36’, Katebian 63’) drew Richmond 3 (Stefanou 56’, Armenian 73’, Cahill 88’) at David Barro Stadium [HT: 2-0]

FC Bulleen Lions: 43. Fraser MACLAREN (GK), 2. Dean ROMAS, 4. Samuel BORGHESI, 5. Lewis WADDELL, 8. Matteo BALLAN, 9. Bardhi HYSOLI, 12. Matt DIMECH, 13. Dean LORENZI (16. Jack GOW 90+’) , 20. Davide CARDAMONE (Alexander TOMASELLI 90+’), 21. Paul HARVEY (Edison PONARI 77’), 33. Joseph KATEBIAN

Unused Subs: 44. Gian TAPIA

Yellow Cards: WADDELL 90+’

Red Cards: BORGHESI 54’, ROMAS 57’.  

Richmond: 1. Matt HRASTOV (GK), 2. Andrew GOFF, 12. James STEFANOU (4. Ryan SUPPLE 68’), 14. Sebastian PETROVIC, 6. David KUSTURA (10. Tim PURCELL 52’), 8. Josh KNIGHT, 11. Liam FLYNN, 12. Mitchell BEAMISH (7. Hamlet ARMENIAN 52’), 9. Tom CAHILL, 18. Georges TSIAKALAKIS, 5. Rylan SADLER.

Unused Subs: 20. Tom BANFIELD, 3. Daniel MILBURROW

Yellow Cards: KUSTURA 36’, TSIAKALAKIS 84’

Red Cards: None.

Pictured: Bulleen's Joseph Katebian in action (image credit: Aleksandar Jason Photography)