By Tomasz Ng (@tomaszng07)

Nine-men Sunshine George Cross took a point away from Wembley Park after a fiery 2-2 draw with 10-men Box Hill United.

George Howard and Amgad Marieh twice gave the hosts the lead in the match, but Christopher Dib’s double pegged them back both times.

It was a match which saw three red cards too, with Alex Pavlidis, Eddie Cetkin and Lewis Shannon all sent to have an early shower.

On a warm, sunny late-winter afternoon, things were going swimming for Box Hill in its bid for promotion, dominating the opening exchanges.

After a few fleeting attempts, Box Hill strung together a lovely move with Michael Gerace showing quick feet in midfield to get the ball out to the wing.

Howard was waiting on the edge of the box and when he was played in, made no mistake to fire his effort past Robert Santilli.

But the hosts didn’t kick on from the goal, and were almost punished for sloppy passes at the back when Chris Oghanna first missed narrowly from range, then Anthony Cassar struck the upright from a similar position after pouncing on the loose ball.

Sunshine started the second half brightly too, and Oghanna almost equalised in spectacular fashion, attempting an overhead from a mis-cleared corner.

The match took a wild turn from the hour mark, when substitute Kenjok Athiu burst past the George Cross defence.

Cetkin was desperate to not let the big attacker through on goal, and subsequently brought him down, leaving the referees little option but to give him his marching orders.

Despite being down a man, Sunshine soon had a gilt-edged opportunity to take the lead when Kojo Brown was felled in the area.

But despite scoring on the first attempt, Dib was forced to re-take the penalty with the keeper not being ready for the initial try, and he skewed his second effort wide of the post.

Box Hill had a good chance to extend its lead almost straight after, but Athiu and Rinor Muriqui fluffed their lines and were made to pay soon after.

With Sunshine counter attacking in the 71st minute, Pavlidis attempted to clear a through ball but was beaten to it by Oghanna, then was adjudged to have brought down the Sunshine man as he doubled back into the box.

This time, Dib made no mistake from the spot and levelled the scores.

Four minutes later, the game took another turn as Box Hill worked a throw in to substitute Marieh on the edge of the box.

The number eight smashed his effort towards the far post, evading the desperate dive from Santilli to nestle in the back of the net.

While the game had been played in good spirits, it turned sour in the 85th minute as a scuffle broke loose in the middle of the park, resulting in a straight red shown to Lewis Shannon.

It didn’t deter the visitors though, who just a minute later, stunned the home crowd by equalising.

Dib burst towards the back post as a cross was whipped in on the right wing, and he finished it with no hassles.

Buoyed by the late equaliser, Sunshine George Cross coach Tony Ciantar was happy with how his side tackled the contest.

“The boys put up a gallant fight - I’m very pleased with the performance today,” Ciantar said.

“We know they like to play the ball around, we were always going to let them come into a trap and catch them on the counter and we weren’t clinical enough (in the first half).

“But credit to the boys they kept going in the second half and we got on top.

“I actually thought we were the better team on the day. Towards the latter part of the game we just got stronger and stronger.”

For Box Hill United, the draw does its chances of promotion no good and coach Greg Kassidas admitted the mood in the camp was flat after the game.

“It is a blow, what can we do? The opportunity was there for three points today and they all know it, their heads are all down in there, not much we can do about it now,” Kassidas said.

“The second half was disappointing for us because we had the extra man twice, it was disappointing that we couldn’t keep it at 2-1.

“I thought our boys did enough to get the result, but in the end that’s what happens. 

“That’s the way the game goes with a bit of a lack of discipline towards the end from both sides and you get what you get.”

Box Hill United must now bounce back against Avondale Heights in two week’s time while Sunshine will host Springvale White Eagles.

MATCH DETAILS:

Box Hill United 2 (Howard 19’, Marieh 78’) drew with Sunshine George Cross 2 (Dib 73’, 86’) at Wembley Park.

Box Hill United: 35. Alex PAVLIDIS, 42. Michael GERACE (14. Kenjok ATHIU 55’), 29. George HOWARD, 26. Aaron PORCARO, 23. Josh VALADON, 22. Nick KOKOLAKIS, 12. Adrian DEL MONACO, 10. Rinor MURIQI (30. Alexander CONNELL 72’), 7. Damien PETERS, 4. Chris IRWIN (8. Amgad MARIEH 69’), 3. Matt COLLIER

Unused subs: 5. Alex SCHROEN, 2. Nikola SURDOSKI

Yellow cards: Peters 85’

Red cards: Pavlidis 71’

Sunshine George Sunshine: 1. Robert SANTILLI, 2. Eddie CETKIN, 4. Tom REILLY, 5. Christopher DIB, 12. Matthew OGHANNA, 7. Brandon ZAFFINA, 8. Chris OGHANNA (16. Samuel ANTONIADIS 74’), 9. Bozidar LOJANICA (18. Lewis SHANNON 68’), 13. Kojo BROWN (11. Jason DOMAZETOVSKI 88’)s, 14. Anthony CASSAR, 17. Jacob ATTARD

Unused subs: 21. Nabi TUNA, 15. Abdul ABDELGABBAR

Red Cards: Cetkin 60’, Shannon 85’