By Matt McNamara

A second half comeback at Chaplin Reserve has seen Sunshine George Cross come back from 2-0 down at the break to earn a 2-2 draw.

Joel Nikolic and Danny Charalambous gave the visiting Moreland Zebras side the lead early on, before goals from Matthew Oghanna and Marty Mason saw both teams leave with a point.

Joel Nikolic was rather harshly dismissed late on for a challenge on Sunshine keeper Robert Santilli to further dampen the mood for the visitors.

The Zebras began well and found themselves 1-0 inside the opening 10 minutes when some great work by young gun James Papadimitriou saw his cross find Nikolic who made no mistake from six yards.

The hosts were struggling to compete with the Zebras and the task became all that much harder when Charalambous got the second.

Papadimitriou was again the supplier, this time finding Charalambous who easily rounded Santilli before slotting the ball into an empty net.

The second half saw a Sunshine resurgence led by right winger Matthew Oghanna.

Oghanna would get the home side back into the match when he collected the rebound from his own shot to neatly slot the ball into the back of the net.

And only three minutes later the sides were level. Marty Mason rose highest at the back post from an Oghanna corner and his looping header sailed over all before nestling in the top corner.

Both sides tried desperately hard in the final moments to secure a winner, with Baggio Yousef of the Zebras having a late penalty claim denied.

The Zebras were already hurting from conceding two goals to give up the valuable 3 points, but were dealt a harsh blow late on with Nikolic harshly dismissed for a late tackle on Santilli.

MATCH DETAILS

Sunshine George Cross 2 (Oghanna 56’, Mason 60’) drew with Moreland Zebras 2 (Nikolic 9’, Charalambous 21’) at Chaplin Reserve (HT 0-2)

Sunshine George Cross: 1. Robert Santilli, 3. Marty Mason, 4. Brandon Scerri, 5. Cristopher Dib, 15. Nemanja Lojanica (16. Samuel Antoniadis 87’), 8. Slaven Vranesevic, 11. Anthony Cassar (9. Bozidar Lojanica 46’), 12. Matthew Oghanna, 19. Adamson Ajayi, 13. Christopher Antoniadis, 10. Adrian Logozzo (7. Brandon Zaffina 46’)

Unused Subs: 18. Baran Kockaya, 21. Akim Abdul

Yellow Cards: Santilli 9’, Dib 50’

 

Moreland Zebras: 1. Nikola Kostadinoski, 12. Bradley Murray, 3. Johnny Crivelli, 5. Daniel Petrov, 6. Adam Centofanti, 8. Joshua McMonagle-Ihasz, 9. Joel Nikolic, 10. Danny Charalambous (20. Baggio Yousef 78’), 14. James Papadimitrou (11. Bale Micovski 81’), 16. Mile Medjedevic, 19. James Kelly

Unused Subs: 21. Aleks Stojanovski, 15. William Nuttall, 22. Ryan Murray

Yellow Card: Medjedevic 61’

Red Card: Nikolic 87’