Western Suburbs played its get out of jail card in a 2-2 draw with newly promoted Hoppers Crossing in the Football Federation Victoria men’s state league 1 at Ralph Reserve on Saturday.
Suburbs stunningly came back from two goals down to score twice late in the second half to share the points.
“I’m still trying to digest it all,” Suburbs coach Terry Antoniadis said.
“We kind of feel like we got out of jail.
“We’ll take the points with the way the game panned out, but there’s a lot of things to work on.”
Western Suburbs were not switched on in the first half and paid the price.
“I thought they were by far the better team in the first half and deservedly led at half-time,” Antoniadis said.
“I just felt they had more energy than what we did and were more composed on the ball.
“They look like a really good side, but I thought we contributed to that, we stood off them too much, we gave them too much time and space and we got out-worked.”
Even after half-time, Western Suburbs took a bit of time to click into first gear and were two goals down by that stage.
Hayne doubled Hoppers Crossing’s lead and even had Antonidis doubting whether his team could overcome the deficit.
“I honestly thought we might have been done, but one of the standout things for us has been our effort and our attitude this year and they did manage to find something,” Antoniadis said.
Momentum in the game changed on the back of Western Suburbs’ substitutes. Soner Kul’s injection into the midfield was a key move.
“We moved the ball around a bit more efficiently once Sonny came on,” Antoniadis said.
Midfielder Yach Bol was a real driving force in the Western Suburbs’ revival.
The beneficiary of Suburbs’ increased possession and smoother ball movement was substitute striker Fernando Nunez, who scored both goals.
The Spanish import showed why he is so highly rated at Suburbs.
“He’s a typical centre forward, he’s got an eye for goal,” Antoniadis said.
“He’s missed out on a lot of the pre-season, so we’ve been working towards integrating him into the team and into the squad.
“I think it’s going to be pretty hard to leave him out after his cameo today.”
Western Suburbs has picked up four out of a possible six points from its opening two games.
Suburbs will travel to Banyule City on Saturday.
In other state league 1 games, Keilor Park romped to a 5-0 win over Essendon Royals at Keilor Park Recreation Reserve. Joel Nikolic led the way with two goals, while Goran Jozeljic, Reuben Agyei-Danso and Sean Sacco also scored.
North Sunshine Eagles had a solid 2-0 win over FC Clifton Hill at Larissa Reserve. Kohei Meguro and Diellon Memishi found the back of the net for the Eagles.
Sydenham Park sunk to a 2-0 defeat away to Banyule City.
In the NPL, Melbourne Knights moved into the top six with a 3-2 win over South Melbourne at Knights Stadium on Friday night.
The Knights won on the back of three set piece goals – two headed in by Knights players Nikola Jurkovic and Tomislav Uskok and the other adjudged an own goal from South’s Kristian Konstantinidis.
Green Gully played out a 2-2 draw with Pascoe Vale on the road at C.B. Smith Reserve on Friday night to extend its unbeaten run to five games. Nick Krousoratis is on fire in front of goal for Gully with six goals in six games, including a double against the Vales.
In NPL 2 west, St Albans Saints coughed up a late lead to finish 2-2 with Moreland Zebras at CB Smith Reserve. Stefan Baricevic and Joseph Monek were the goalscorers for the Saints.
Sunshine George Cross went down 2-0 to North Geelong Warriors at Knights Stadium.
