By Alen Delic @AlenDelic

A penalty in the dying minutes of the match was enough to earn Green Gully a 2-2 draw against Dandenong Thunder, and complete a spectacular five-minute comeback.

Sakhi Zada Faisal’s goal on the stroke of halftime put Dandenong up 1-0, before a sensational curling effort from 25 yards doubled the lead after 73 minutes.

But the visitors didn't hold onto their advantage; some poor defending from a set piece allowed Osagie Ederaro to nab one back, before a Jason Hayne penalty earned Gully the point.

It was a fast and furious start to the game with Dandenong Thunder denied a goal from a corner after a minute of play.

Goalkeeper Kieran Gonzalez couldn’t hold onto Faisal’s header from the corner giving Brendan Craig a tap-in, but he was adjudged to have fouled the keeper in kicking the ball out of his hands.

Just five minutes later Dandenong had another opportunity to take the lead with an early cross not dealt with by the defence, falling to Carl Lamb, only to be denied by Gonzalez at full stretch.

The game then settled, with both teams having their share of calculated attacks, but neither looking particularly threatening until just before the break.

Five minutes from the half, Dandenong had another goal disallowed when Craig was again ruled to have fouled Gonzalez.

But it didn’t take long after that decision for the Thunder to strike.

A long Alan Mulcahy free kick from 40 yards found Faisal on the edge of the six-yard-box, and he just nodded it on past Gonzalez.

After the break it was Gully who came out firing with Ratip Cileli rattling the bar via a 35-yard rocket.

The momentum had now well and truly shifted, with Gully on the offensive looking for the equaliser.

The goal came, but it was disallowed.

A brilliant square ball cut the defence open and fell to Mathew Sanders, who drove the ball into the goal via an Osagie Ederaro touch.

But it wasn’t to be, with Ederaro ruled offside when he got the final touch.

The game then reverted to the tit-for-tat battle the audience saw in the first, until the 73rd minute when a free kick wasn’t dealt with by Gully’s defenders.

It fell to the Dandenong midfield, eventually making its way to Faisal outside of the box, who skillfully guided the ball past Gonzalez with a spectacular curling shot.

The second goal sprung Gully back into life, with the hosts throwing caution to the wind in looking for a goal.
It finally came in the 85th minute through Osagie Ederaro.

A corner into the six-yard-box wasn’t dealt with by the Dandenong defenders, with the ball bouncing through to Ederaro who guided the ball past three defenders and a goalkeeper.

The hosts kept pushing for the equaliser, eventually earning themselves a penalty when Rodrigo Vargas was first to a 50-50 ball, and was carelessly hacked down by Carl Lamb for his efforts.

Jason Hayne fearlessly stepped up to take it, and coolly converted into the bottom right corner.

There were no celebrations from the hosts, opting to grab the ball and hurry the restart instead.

But there was little time to grab a winner for either side, with the whistle going shortly after and dooming the sides to a point apiece.

Green Gully coach Bob Stojcevski said Gully was lucky to still be in the game after the first half but on the balance a draw was a fair result.

“I’m quite pleased to have that never-give-up attitude, keep fighting right to the end and get something out of it,” Stojcevski said.

“I think [Dandenong] probably feel aggrieved about the first half. They had a couple of goalmouth scrambles and had a disallowed goal.

“But we had a disallowed goal too, so we could have felt aggrieved in the second half, so overall a draw was probably a fair result.”

Dandenong Thunder coach Dean Hennessey was less philosophical, squaring the blame firmly at the officials.

“I thought the penalty was very, very harsh,” Hennessey said.

“I don’t think it was a penalty. I’ve spoken to the referee, and from my feedback the Gully players didn’t think it was either.

“But what can you do? You get punished by decisions other people make.”

But despite placing the blame on the referees, Heneessey conceded his team didn’t do himself any favours.

“I’ve been in this country 32 years and I’ve never won here at Gully,” he said.

“The first goal is the telling one, that gets them back into the game.

“It gives them a lifeline and we most probably should have dealt with that a little bit better.”

MATCH DETAILS

Green Gully 2 (Ederaro 84’, Hayne 90’) drew with Dandenong Thunder (Faisal 45’, 73’) at Green Gully Reserve (HT: 0-1)

Green Gully S.C: 1. Kieran GONZALEZ 2. Mathew REID, 5. Rodrigo VARGAS, 7. Jeffrey FLEMING, 8. Jason HAYNE, 10. Ratip CILELI (9. Brent FISHER 76’), 12. Mathew SANDERS, 16. Thomas DENG, 17. Andy VARGAS (11. Jem BERKANT 68’), 18. Cameron DAVIES (21. Adam PETKO 90+1’), 20. Osagie EDERARO
Unused subs: 23. Christopher AILAKIS, 22. Peter MODAFFERI

Yellow cards: nil

Red cards: nil

Dandenong Thunder: 1. Frazer SIDDALL, 12. Brendan ELMAZOVSKI, 4. Ramazan TAVSANCIOGLU, 2. Jarryd BARNES, 5. Sakhi Zada FAISAL, 6. Alan MULCAHY, 16. Alan KEARNEY, 7. Kieran DOVER, 11. Kris KIUSSIS, 18. Brendan CRAIG (8. Matthew MILLAR 59’), 20. Carl LAMB

Unused subs: 9. Feston AZIZI, 3. Ilir PALI, 13. Rees DUNCAN, 21. Zaim ZENELI

Yellow cards: Craig (54’)

Red cards: nil