By Rory Flanagan (@Rory_Flanagan)

Box Hill United has been held in a thrilling 2-2 draw by Bulleen Lions on Saturday afternoon at Wembley Park.

It was another disappointing result for Box Hill, which has dropped points in its past two games, whilst Bulleen will feel as though it should have snatched all three points.

Taka Nishimoto’s brilliant effort on the stroke of halftime put the Lions in front, before Kenny Athiu equalised twice either side of Joey Katebian’s thumping 85th-minute strike.

Bolstered by the return of Athiu to the starting 11 after recovering from the flu, Box Hill started brightly and dominated possession in typical fashion.

Bulleen should have been punished for cheaply surrendering possession in midfield but George Howard and Rinor Muriqi’s attempts were both blocked on the line. 

United were all over their visitors in the opening half hour and the only time Bulleen looked close to scoring was through Matt Waters’ awkward clearance over his own net.

Athiu wasted a glorious chance from a corner, thumping a header against the upright from six yards as United’s stranglehold on the game eased off.

The next 15 minutes were dull and lacked the expected quality until a prophetic fan in the stands declared the away side would lead at the break.

In stoppage time, Nishimoto made the mystery man look like a genius as well as himself with a brilliant turn and goal which cannoned in off the post.

Arthur Georgiou rallied his troops at halftime, who again started strongly, although Bulleen appeared much more organised and prepared for what was to come.

Playmaker Muriqi went close with a header over the bar and a long-range curling effort in quick succession, causing no problems for Fraser Maclaren in goal.
 
Frustration began to creep in as the referee issued three yellow cards for one incident involving Katebian, Matt Waters and Nick Kokolakis following an innocuous challenge on the halfway line.
 
Five minutes later, United were deservedly level through the talismanic Athiu who swept the ball home into the side netting and brought the crowd roaring to life.
 
Despite having all the momentum, Box Hill was susceptible to counter attacks and required half a dozen crucial challenges from the outstanding Adrian Del Monaco – including a strong contender for tackle of the season – who spent nearly 10 years at Bulleen.
 
Countering a poorly delivered corner, Chris Irwin was sent clean through on goal thanks to a magnificent pass from Kokolakis, but the wide man took one touch too many and the chance was gone.

The hosts’ frustration grew and was then compounded by an error from Christian Lar who had been in splendid form all afternoon.

Katebian collected the turnover and raced toward goal, unleashing an unstoppable strike past Pavlidis and seemingly giving his side all three points.

With a minute remaining, Howard won a corner after playing a total of 170 minutes of football due to earlier private school commitments.

All eyes were on one man – Athiu. The 6’4” striker rose highest to bury a monstrous header from Muriqi’s sumptuous delivery and sent the Wembley Park crowd into a frenzy.

In his post-game comments, Georgiou praised his players for keeping faith in their footballing brand.

“To concede in the 46th minute and come back to get a result like that, I’m very happy. I’m happy that the players kept to our structure and attacking, expressive style and didn’t go home with nothing. Some teams can force things to happen and become impatient, but to the boys’ credit we played our way for the duration (of the game),” Georgiou said.
 
Counterpart Fab Soncin lamented his side’s inability to kill off the opposition late in games.

“If you look at our games, we conceded late a few times now. It’s disappointing because at this level you should be able to see out a final five minutes of a game even if they have the quality like they (Box Hill) did,” Soncin said.

MATCH DETAILS

Box Hill United 2 (Athiu 74’ 90’) drew FC Bulleen Lions 2 (Nishimoto 45’+1, Katebian 85’) at Wembley Park

Box Hill United: Alex Pavlidis (GK), George Howard, Nick Kokolakis, Josh Busch, Kenjok Athiu, Adrian Del Monaco, Matt Waters, Rinor Muriqi, Samuel Catherine (Carl O'Keefe 87'), Chris Irwin (Anthony Ramzy 77'), Matt Collier (C) (Christian Lar 20').

Unused subs: Sam Shepherd, Christian Pavlidis.

Yellow Cards: Catherine 52', Waters 70' Kokolakis 70'.

Red Cards: None

FC Bulleen Lions: Fraser Maclaren (GK), Dean Romas, Samuel Borghesi, Lewis Waddell, Matteo Ballan, Bardhi Hysoli (Alex Dao 58'), Takanori Nishimoto, Matt Dimech (Joshua Sabidussi 75'), Davide Cardamone, Paul Harvey, Joey Katebian

Unused subs: Edison Ponari, Gian Tapia.

Yellow Cards: Dimech 44', Katebian 70'.

Red Cards: None

Pictured: Box Hill's Kenny Athiu battles for possession with Bulleen's Takanori Nishimoto (Image credit: The Sporting Wall)