By Bryce Clayton

Northcote City has been denied its fifth win of the season, with a late goal by Kaine Sheppard securing a draw for Heidelberg United at Olympic Village on Sunday night.

Heidelberg began the game sitting in third place with seven wins for the season, while the visitors came into the game in eighth place with just four wins from their previous 10 games.

Both teams came into the game in solid recent form, with Heidelberg on a streak of six successive wins, and Northcote only losing two in the same amount of time.

It was the visitors who started well, trying to build on a decent 3-0 win last round against Goulburn Valley Suns.

Kristian Konstantinidis claimed the first shot of the game, but could only manage to loft the ball well over the crossbar from outside the 18-yard box.

Within the next three-minute period, Heidelberg managed to win three corners and with the first two not troubling Northcote ‘keeper Chris Theodoridis, it was the third which almost paid dividends for the home side with Dan Heffernan’s header bouncing into the ground and agonisingly over the bar by mere centimetres.

Liam Wooding found himself in behind in the 14th minute and forced a good save out of Heidelberg ‘keeper Ryan Norval.

Two minutes later, it was the home side that had another opportunity, with Sheppard’s shot from the left side of the box saved by Theodoridis.

It was beginning to become a very open game, with the next 15 minutes bringing a lot of half-opportunities to the home side as they dominated proceedings.

An attacking move by Northcote found James Kalifatidis in behind, who was unable to make Heidelberg pay when he spooned a header over the crossbar from inside the six-yard box.

Over the 10-minute period before halftime, it was the visitors who gained the ascendancy in the match, with desperate defending by the Heidelberg defence breaking up a Northcote attack by clearing the ball out for a corner in the 42nd minute.

Northcote took the lead through Konstantinidis, who after receiving the ball well outside the penalty area, unleashed an absolute thundering shot which found the top left-hand corner. It took until the 43rd minute but the first goal was worth the wait right on the stroke of halftime.

At halftime, it was the visitors with an unlikely lead and Heidelberg had a lot of work to do if it was to get back into the game.

Northcote started the second half on top, with the majority of possession going its way and a couple of half chances presenting themselves.

The frustration was getting to the players, with a horribly mistimed tackle earning Stefan Baricevic a yellow card in the 50th minute.

Baricevic was in the spotlight again a couple of minutes later, but this time it was with a decent chance on goal, which he lofted straight into the arms of Norval.

Northcote’s Marino Gasparis earned himself a yellow card in the 53rd minute in an eventful little spell in the game.

Northcote thought it had doubled its lead in the 55th minute when Kalifatidis found himself in behind again with a header, which ended up in the back of the net, but he was denied by the linesman who ruled him to be offside.

Heidelberg went to the bench in an attempt to bring on some fresh legs, with Yusuf Yusuf coming on for Stefan Baricevic in the 60th minute.

The game began to slow at this stage, with the next major opportunity falling Heidelberg’s way as it pushed forward for a corner but was unable to make anything of it.

Northcote then went to the bench in the 71st minute, with Michael Catalano replacing Jonathon Bounas.

Heffernan was the next to be cautioned by the referee in the 73rd minute for a rough challenge, joined in the referee’s notebook by Tremayne Sadler just two minutes later for another rough challenge.

Northcote went to the bench for a second time, bringing on Wade Dekker for Jonathon Munoz in the 80th minute.

Heidelberg followed with its second substitution soon after, bringing on James Goulopoulos for Andrew Cartanos in the 83rd minute.

Heidelberg left it late, but came up with the equaliser when Sheppard found himself in behind and put the ball in the bottom right-hand corner with inch-perfect precision in the 86th minute.

Both teams pushed for a winner, but Northcote seemed content with a draw.

Paul Miller had a last-gasp chance to snatch victory for Heidelberg in the third minute of stoppage time but it was well saved by Theodoridis, who had a solid game in goals. .

The result sees Heidelberg retain third position on the table, just two points behind second place and a huge 11 points behind runaway leader South Melbourne.

Northcote remains in eighth place, just one point above ninth-placed Werribee City and a win away from the top four.

Next round, Heidelberg will host Werribee City at Olympic Village and Northcote will play away to seventh-placed Green Gully at Green Gully Reserve.

Both Heidelberg and Northcote were unavailable for comment.

MATCH DETAILS

Heidelberg United 1 (Sheppard 86’) drew with Northcote City 1 (Konstantinidis 43’) at Olympic Village [HT: 0-1]

Heidelberg United: Ryan NORVAL, Jordan WILKES, Stefan BARICEVIC (Yusuf YUSUF 60’), Steven PACE, Peter KRATKY, Paul MILLER, Kosta KANAKARIS, Andrew CARTANOS (James GOULOPOULOS 83'), Dan HEFFERNAN, Kaine SHEPPARD, Jakob WILLIAMS

Unused Subs: Griffin MCMASTER, Harris STAMBOULIDIS, Dean TANCEVSKI

Yellow Cards: Stefan BARICEVIC, Dan HEFFERNAN

Red Cards: None

Northcote City: Chris THEODORIDIS, Jonathon BOUNAS (Michael CATALANO 71’), Liam WOODING, Kristian KONSTANTINIDIS, Adrian CHIAPPETTA, Jonathon MUNOZ (Wade DEKKER 80’), Tremayne SADLER, Trent RIXON (Ersin KAYA 90+2’), James KALIFATIDIS, Greg LOMBARDO, Marino GASPARIS

Unused Subs: Luke GAVALAS, Jacob ELIOPOULOS

Yellow Cards: Marino GASPARIS, Tremayne SADLER

Red Cards: None

Image credit: Heidelberg United FC