Despite leading for the majority of the contest, Ashburton United were undone by a late Senior NTC free-kick and controversial second within minutes of each other in a frenetic 2-2 draw at Knox Regional Football Centre.
Goals to Laura Spiranovic and Georgia Cloepfil had Ashy cruising at 2-0, before Hayley Richmond and Nikolina Bucalo both struck their first goals of the season to draw level in a pulsating contest.
The cold night out had all the attendees shivering in their spots as the third placed Ashburton United took on an eighth placed Senior NTC, the former still working to secure their top five place in the WPL.
With a blow of the whistle, the ball kicked-off and the contest started at a fast moving pace; both teams using their speed to keep keep the pressure in the centre of the field.
Melbourne Victory’s Emma Checker kept control of the midfield with her usual poise and confidence.
Early on, Ashburton enjoyed good amounts of possession as the aforementioned Checker combined with Christine Pfeiffer, but her header went just past the post.
The ball again fizzed just past the post as Cloepfill and Spiranovic combined well to put further pressure on NTC keeper Teresa Morrissey.
On the counter, Edith Fordyce-Crocker was moving well and she sent Ashleigh Lefevre down the wing on a number of occasions.
With all of the Ashburton pressure piling, it wasn’t long until the deadlock was broken.
Olivia Edwards stood over a free kick from outside the box and forced a fumble from the NTC keeper; well-known goal scorer Laura Spiranovic was the one to latch onto the loose ball to send it into the back of the net.
Ashburton were back on the hunt quickly and only Morrissey’s deft movement kept the 1-0 scoreline.
Both sides continued with their tactic of outpacing each other before the referee blew the whistle for half-time.
Early into the second half, Ashburton kept pushing forward to try and double their lead and it took just ten minutes for recent international signing Briar Palmer, to tear through the NTC defence.
Her cut back pass was finished cleanly by Cloepfil and the Ashburton faithful attempted to defrost their hands enough to clap and cheer.
As the most ardent of commentators would tell you, 2-0 is a dangerous scoreline to have for a team, and with that in mind, the Senior NTC team struck back swiftly.
NTC’s Hayley Richmond latched onto a chance outside the box and her shot rocketed past ‘keeper Melissa Maizels’ outstretched hands, bounced on the underside of the crossbar and in.
With a minute barely passed from the restart, a free-kick was called for a foul just outside the box and Nikolina Bucalo stepped up for the set-piece.
The kick went over the heads of all on-comers, with Maizels desperately grasping at the ball in an attempt to keep it from going over the line.
Controversially, the referee signalled that the ball had gone over the line, and with that, brought the scores even.
Ashburton, losing their lead of two in as many minutes, remonstrated loudly and the game took a few minutes to return to the centre.
With just twenty minutes to go Ashburton threw all they could to reclaim the three points they’d held for over a half of football.
Palmer looked particularly dangerous over set-pieces, rattling the upright a few times as the Senior NTC breathed a sigh of relief.
With great relief, theNTC held the home team at bay and the points were shared by both.
Regardless of the controversial decision for the game’s fourth goal, Ashburton United will have regret letting the NTC back into the contest after having controlled so much of the game.
Senior NTC can go away happy with their hard-fought point, as they ready up for their next match against Boroondara Eagles .
Photo(s): Adrian Shaw
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Ashburton United 2 (Spiranovic 22’, Cloepfill 54’) drew with Senior NTC 2 (Richmond 68’, Bucalo 69’) at Knox Football Centre[HT: 1-0]
Ashburton United: 21. Laura Spiranovic, 9. Melina Ayres, 18. Georgia Cloepfil, 4. Britt Thomas, 14. Christine Pfeiffer (C), 3. Holly Richardson, 15. Emma Checker, 2. Maria Patrikis, 1. Melissa Maizels, 19. Olivia Edwards, 13. Azize Erenli 11. Fede Frew, 8. Briar Palmer, 6. Rebecca Saber, 16. Rachel Jarvis, 12. Amy Malander
Yellow Card(s): Nil
Red Card(s): Nil
Senior NTC: 9. Joey Cartwright, 25. Melindaj Barbieri, 17. Hayley Richmond, 31. Coby McInerney, 14. Edith Fordyce-Crocker, 16. Teresa Morrissey, 3. Natasha Dakic, 33. Ashleigh Lefevre, 13. Annabelle Martin (C), 6. Adriana Taranto, 8. Melissa Taranto, 1. Erin Hudson, 7. Emily Harbis, 28. Nikolina Bucalo, 2. Jaimee Williams, 15. Akeisha Sandhu
Yellow Card(s): Nil
Red Card(s): Nil