Melbourne Victory showed grit, spirit and plenty of heart as they turned a 2-0 deficit into a share of the spoils in a 2-2 draw against Western Sydney Wanderers at the Veneto Club.
Goals either side of the break to Linda O’Neill and Carmelina Moscato saw the visitors go two goals ahead, before MelindaJ Barbieri struck back with her first ever W-League goal.
Natasha Dowie then found a late equalise to earn a hard-fought, but well deserve, draw in a game in which they created plenty of chances.
A plucky Victory enjoyed one of their better halves of football for the season, creating plenty of opportunities despite conceding late into the opening half.
Dowie showed great movement in the early stages but struggled to find the space to fire off a shot as she looked threatening around the 18-yard-box.
She created a couple of opportunities early, first latching onto a ball from Annabel Martin, taping past her defensive opponent, only for Wanderers keeper Jada Whyman to sweep and safely claim the ball.
Dowie – on the end of a deep cross into the area – was thwarted in her attempt to take the ball past her defender; instead the ball broke to Enza Barilla who saw her shot blocked from the edge of the area.
Earlier, Barilla had combined with Melissa Taranto, with the NTC product forcing the Wanders keeper into a save on her right post.
Melissa Barbieri was also in the thick of things, as she halted Keelin Winters from 25-yards, as well as coming smartly off her line twice to deny the Wanderers forward line.
Martin and Dowie nearly combined again the 24th minute, as the Englishwoman’s desperately dove forward in her attempt to meet a tailing cross from her fullback.
Hayley Raso went herself on 33 minutes, winning possession on the half-way line, before bursting with pace through the middle of the park and eventually forcing the keeper into a smart save.
Dowie had another opportunity to get on the score sheet, but she slid her shot narrowly past the post from her weaving run, with Barbieri initially playing her through.
The breakthrough came on 41 minutes through O’Neill, who caught the Victory defence napping to slide home the opener, despite the offside claims from the hosts.
The Wanderers had their second within a minute of the restart, with a Hannah Beard corner flicked on by first half substitute Elizabeth Grey at the near post, for Moscato to bundle home with the header.
Despite putting in a decent shift, it appeared as if the game was escaping the Victory, but on 52 minutes, the landscape of the contest changed as they pulled one back through Barbieri who netted her first ever W-League goal.
A corner from Nairn picked out Natoli at the edge of the box, who lumped the ball forward in hope, which managed to find Barbieri on the byline.
The 15-year old smashed a finish home from a tight angle, and in doing so became the fifth youngest ever goalscorer in W-League history.
Whyman was forced into action on a number of occasions, the youngster displaying her expert handling with a number of smart claims from crosses.
Victory continued to push for an equaliser and they came close in the 74th minute through Martin, who narrowly missed a Raso cross at the far post, after some good attacking movement from Natoli down the left wing.
They didn’t have to wait long for their equaliser however as just a minute later, Dowie found the all-important second.
A lovely weighted ball from Christine Nairn found Dowie over the top, who held the ball up to beat the Wanderers keeper, before sliding the ball into the back of an unguarded net.
A free-kick on the edge of the area gave Nairn the perfect opportunity to break the deadlock, but an incredibly diving save from Whyman denied her with just five minutes left in the contest.
Nairn then supplied one final chance Victory’s way, hitting an early cross towards the figure of Dowie in the middle, who steered her looping header just over the crossbar in the early stages of injury time.
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Melbourne Victory 2 (MJ Barbieri 52’, Dowie 74’) drew with Western Sydney Wanderers 2 (O’Neill 41’, Grey 46’) at The Veneto Club [HT: 0-1]
Melbourne Victory: 20. Melissa BARBIERI (GK, c), 2. Alex NATOLI, 4. Melissa TARANTO (12. Whitney KNIGHT 66’) 6, 6. Annabel MARTIN, 7. Enza BARILLA (17. Gulcan KOCA 73’), 8. Jamie POLLOCK, 10. Christine NAIRN, 11. MelindaJ BARBIERI (6. Briar PALMER 87’), 13. Thea SLATYER, 16. Hayley RASO, 27. Natasha DOWIE
Unused Substitute(s): 1. Cassandra DIMOVSKI (GK)
Western Sydney Wanderers: 20. Jada MATHYSSEN-WHYMAN (GK), 2. Carmelina MOSCATO, 4. Chloe O’BRIEN, 6. Rachael SOUTAR, 7. Helen PETINOS, 10. Michelle CARNEY, 11. Keeling WINTERS (c), 12. Hannah BEARD (19. Jordan BAKER 71’), 15. Ellie CARPENTER, 16. Linda O’NEILL (9. Elizabeth GREY 43’), 17. Alex ROBERTS
Unused Substitute(s): 30. Lisa FARRINGTON (GK), 18. Tara PENDER