At Tarrawanna this afternoon, the reigning premiers Albion Park and mid-table Tarrawanna played out a thrilling 2-2 draw that wasn't settled until the final seconds of a pulsating game.

Going into the game, Albion Park were hot favourites but Tarrawanna have scored a few upsets this season and despite their mediocre position on the table, have managed to bag as many goals as some of the others in the top 4.

Tarrawanna were first to score in the 17th minute when a loose ball from a corner fell nicely to David Freeman who beat the White Eagles keeper, Mitchell Blowes, with a shot aided by a slight deflection into the top right corner of goal.

Throughout the first half, Albion Park launched a number of raids on the Tarra goal and striker Jordan Lando had at least 3 headed shots go wide except one which caused a few heart flutters amongst the home supporters.

Nick Morgan and Arvi Lehtsav worked tirelessly in the Tarra defence and rather against the run of play, Tarrawanna increased their lead in the 43rd minute when they were given a free kick on the edge of the penalty area. Up walked Tim O'Brien who sent a screamer through the Eagles defensive wall which left Blowes completely rooted to the spot and looking daggers at his defenders.

Albion Park came out breathing fire after the break and 4 of their players, Breen Sullivan, Adam Martin, Harvey Rodriguez and Norm Wicker were shown yellow cards in a frenetic 15 minute period of play. Arthur Diles almost pulled one back for the Eagles in the 53rd minute which was saved by Tarra keeper, Christian Pretto.

Two minutes later, a Tarrawanna shot hit the crossbar and in the 71st minute a goalmouth scrimmage was desperately cleared by the Albion Park defence. The Blues would later rue those missed opportunities.

Inevitably the match was set up for a great finish when Park's Chris Smith blasted a shot into the back of the net from the edge of the box to the left of Pretto in the 84th minute. Just 2 minutes later Smith was back in the hunt and Pretto made an outstanding save to deny Smith another.

Finally, deep into injury time, a hotly disputed corner was awarded to Albion Park and Harvey Rodriguez swooped on a loose ball to slot home the equaliser to the roar of the large contingent of Eagles supporters who had made the trip!

The Tarrawanna players were still bitterly protesting to the referee when the whistle blew full-time only seconds later and Nick Morgan, who had had an outstanding game was booked.

Tarrawanna Bluey's might consider themselves unlucky and Albion Park perhaps lucky but the result was a fair indication of a fiercely contested and exciting fixture which will remain in the memory of the crowd for quite a while to come!

MATCH STATS: Tarrawanna FC 2
(David Freeman 17', Tim O'Brien 43')
drew with
Albion Park White Eagles 2
(Chris Smith 84', Harvey Rodriguez 90'+)

Crowd: Est. 350

Tarrawanna Bluey's
Player listing : 1. C. Pretto (gk), 2. N. Morgan, 3. F. Baghdadi, 4. A. Bueno, 5. A. Lehtsav, 6. M Todd, 7. V. Musumec, 8. T. O'Brien, 9. V. Costabile (14. A. Costabile +89'), 10. E. Abel, 11. D. Freeman

Subs not used: tba

Coach: Gary Firnie

Yellow Cards: N. Morgan 93'
Red Cards: Nil

Albion Park White Eagles
Player listing: 1. M. Blowes (gk), 2. B. Sullivan (14. Pedrag Boomk +77'), 3. A. Martin, 4. A. Diles, 5. H. Rodriguez, 6. N. Wicker, 7. D. Graovac (13. R. Goodchild +75') 8. A. Gacesa (12. A. O'Brien +45') 9. J. Lando 10. C. Smith 11. A. Johnson

Subs not used: tba

Coach: Steve Micevski

Yellow Cards: N. Wicker 52', A. Martin 57', H. Rodriguez 59', B. Sullivan 64'
Red Cards: Nil


Referee: Mick Agim; Assistants: Tomas Royall and Frank Giccoli

Ground: tba/10

Game: tba/10

Best players: tba

Match Report and photos by Mark Taylor


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(Tarrawanna Oval - Photo Mark Taylor)


(Bluey's on the attack - Photo Mark Taylor)


(Bluey's on the attack - Photo Mark Taylor)



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