There were goals galore at Arlington Oval, and a barnstorming finish, but it was points shared as Dulwich Hill and St George fought out an entertaining 3-3 draw.
It looked like the home side would take the three points, up 3-1 with twenty minutes to go, but St George rallied to claw back a point. In fairness, it was no more than they deserved, having looked in control for large periods of the game.
They had certainly started the brighter, dominating play and territory in the early stages. And it was not long before they got on the scoresheet, a Peter Crevani cross, swung in from the left, found Denis Cutura who headed neatly passed the outstretched arms of Michael Frost.
Brad Gibson had an excellent chance not long after to make it two, and place the visitors in a strong position, but looped his shot just wide.
Dulwich Hill responded with a chance of their own, Jay Lucas laying off the ball for Tony Faria, but who perhaps delayed too long, allowing the St George defence to charge down the strike.
The twin strike partners were forever dangerous, although the Saints were holding firm, shackling Lucas for large periods. But eight minutes before half time, Lucas did manage to find some space on the edge of the box and struck swiftly into the bottom corner. 1-1.
St George immediately responded with two excellent chances. Reuben Lagos struck from distance but his shot was held by Frost and then Frost, again, tipped a St George effort onto the bar.
The saves by the Dully keeper kept his side in the match at that time allowing Faria to snare a goal at the other end to give the home side a 2-1 half time lead. Faria, from a tight angle, retained his composure to snooker away his shot at the near post.
When Dulwich Hill scored their third on the hour, a long range strike from David von Dinklage, after good lead up work from Raphael Bove and Lucas, it looked like they had taken the points.
Saints keeper, Daniel Nash, injured after a clash with Lucas, was replaced by the 16 year old Joeys squad keeper, Aaron Liddell. It meant that St George had two 16 year olds on the pitch, the young striker Jordan Figon having also earlier come on for Denis Cutura.
And so the Saints rallied. They pulled one back when Crevani made a run down the left, working his way into the area. A well placed cut back to Ivo de Jesus meant a simple tap in.
De Jesus then struck a thunderbolt from thirty metres, which was heading for the roof of the net but Frost was again equal to the task, tipping around for a corner. Verrender’s header was down and then over from the ensuing corner, Lagos again came close.
But it was left to the youngster, Figon. From a Crevani corner, the ball was headed out but eventually found its way to Figon, who struck low, with only three minutes left.
It would seem like a draw would be settled upon but both sides searched for a winner in the dying moments. A free kick on the edge of the area for Dully looked the most promising but ultimately proved fruitless.
Mark Strachan was reasonably satisfied with the point, considering the age of his team on the park.
“We are down to the bare bones at the moment. There were seven 21 year olds on the teamsheet and four started. We are a bit low on bodies but it was an outstanding effort by the youngsters’”.
“Had we been offered a point before the game, I would have taken that but still feel that we let three points slip away”.
Nick Orlic meanwhile felt a little disappointed.
“A point away from home is always good but had we taken our chances, we could have won. There were a couple of lapses in concentration for their goals but we played reasonably”.
“The positive from the match was how the team came back with the belief that they could get something. It is also a credit to the club in bringing on the youngsters, they are exciting young players. The finish (by Figon) was a good one, he kept composed”.
Dulwich Hill 3 (Jay Lucas 38’, Tony Faria 43’, David Von-Dinklage 59’) v St George 3 (Denis Cutura 15’, Ivo de Jesus 69’, Jordan Figon 87’)
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