By Bryce Clayton

Oakleigh Cannons have struck late to secure a thrilling 1-1 draw with a 10-men Heidelberg United at Olympic Village on Sunday night.

Goals to Kaine Sheppard and Dusan Bosnjak split the points between the teams and an early red card for Dan Heffernan put pressure on the home side for most of the game.

Oakleigh came into the game as the form team of the competition, with four straight wins and most notably a huge victory over first-placed South Melbourne.

Meanwhile, Heidelbergsuffered a tough loss to South Melbourne last weekend, and were looking to bounce straight back.

It was the home side with the first chances of the game, but Dan Heffernan and Les Doumbalis couldn’t hit their respective efforts on target.

Heffernan then had a golden opportunity in the seventh minute to give his side the lead but it was cleared off the line by some desperate Oakleigh defending.

Oakleigh began to settle into the game from then on but a couple of lobbed balls forward were comfortably dealt with by Heidelberg ‘keeper Griffin McMaster.

Dan Heffernan picked up a yellow card in the 12th minute for a harsh challenge which would turn out to be crucial just a few minutes later.

The best chance of the first 25 minutes came when Oakleigh broke on the counter and found themselves three-on-one, but a spectacular save by McMaster denied Oakleigh’s Nate Foster from scoring.

Drama arose in the 24th minute when another terribly mistimed tackle by Heffernan saw him enter the referees notebook for the second time and claim a red card, leaving Heidelberg with 10 men for the best part of 65 minutes.

With the extra-man advantage, Oakleigh began to ramp up their possession.

But the game opened up in the 35th minute, with Heidelberg missing at one end and the Cannons almost scoring through a dangerous counter attack and run by Foster.

With the extreme weather conditions pre-game, goals were hard to come by with large wet-patches in front of either goal making shots hold up, ensuring both ‘keepers were in for a tricky time.

But the game turned on its head when Heidelberg took the lead on the stroke of half time as Kaine Sheppard fired a bullet from inside the box into the bottom left-hand corner, giving 10-men Heidelberg a 1-0 lead over the Cannons.

Oakleigh started the second half on top making use of the extra man, with plenty of forward movement in the first five minutes but no clear chances.

Heidelberg stood strong at the back, and with no clear chances for either side in the second half by the 65th minute, the Cannons pushed forward with the extra man.

Some clever movement in the 68th minute almost saw Foster equalise but he was unable to reach a cross at full stretch.

Mark Gough had Heidelberg’s best opportunity of the second half when he found himself alone in the 18-yard-box but an incredible save by John Honos denied the hosts from doubling its lead.

Heidelberg yet again scrambled in the 74th minute to deny the Cannons spoiling its lead, with the a real possibility of holding on for all three points.

The Cannons left it until the last 10 minutes but it was Bosnjak who stepped up to equalise in the 82nd minute with a powerful shot to the bottom left-hand corner which leveled the scores and put pressure on the 10-men of Heidelberg.

The pressure began to mount on both teams and McMaster came to the rescue again in the 90th minute when his save off the line denied multiple Oakleigh attackers.

In the end, Heidelberg and Oakleigh played out a 1-1 draw, with the 10-men almost getting a huge win in the chase to claw back runaway leaders South Melbourne.

Both Heidelberg and Oakleigh were unavailable for comment.

Heidelberg United 1 (Sheppard 45’) drew with Oakleigh Cannons 1 (Bosnjak 82’) at Olympic Village [HT: 1-0]

Heidelberg: Griffin MCMASTER, John LAZARIDIS, Luke BYLES, Steve PACE, Jakob WILLIAMS, Jack PETRIE, Les DOUMBALIS, Dan VASILEVSKI (Jordan WILKES 45’), Mark GOUGH, Dan HEFFERNAN, Kaine SHEPHARD (Kosta KANAKARIS 74’)

Unused Subs: Andrew CARTANOS, James GOULOPOLOUS

Yellow Cards: Dan HEFFERNAN 12’, 24’, Luke BYLES 90+1’

Red Cards: Dan HEFFERNAN 24’

Oakleigh: John HONOS, Dusan BOSNJAK, Adam LE CORNU, Evan CHRISTODOULOU, Thomas LAKIC, Goran ZORIC, Bonel OBRADOVIC (John BLACK 67’), Nathaniel FOSTER, Aron WILFORD, Dean PIEMONTE (Ian KAMAU 56’), Dominic D’ANGELO

Unused Subs: Harry RAYWORTH, Veton KORCARI, Ariel RITZ

Yellow Cards: Nil

Red Cards: Nil

Image credit: Heidelberg United