Seniors fight back from one goal down to grab draw against Whitehorse.
Old Carey have ended a run of two straight losses with a 1-1 draw away to Whitehorse. Roy Chan scored his first goal for the club, in a well taken finish. Old Carey will however rue their many missed chances, and should really have left Terrara Park with all three points.
The Canaries travelled away to Whitehorse knowing that a loss would see them well entrenched within the bottom three. Old Carey were forced into a few changes prior to kick off, with Jonathon Roediger unable to recover from his corked knee, and Paul Purcell unavailable. Michael Hargitary made the squad for the first time this year, after returning from Europe. Ayman Amin returned to the starting 11, while Richard Stanner found himself starting on the bench.
Old Carey got the game underway and looked dangerous early, with Amin being at the forefront of many of Old Carey’s attacks. With less than 10 minutes gone however, Old Carey found themselves behind. After winning possession on the edge of his own 18 yard box, Mallios found himself in a 50:50 with Luke Marrone, Whitehorse United’s leading scorer. Marrone won the tussle, and found himself 8 yards out and one-on-one with the keeper. The Whitehorse target man took the ball away from keeper Paton and slotted the ball into the empty net.
Despite their early setback, Old Carey worked their way back into the game, and were having much success down their right with Matthews, Udorovic and Amin linking up particularly well. As the first half wore on, Old Carey applied the pressure to Whitehorse. Chan was managing to get behind his man out wide on the left, while the Whitehorse defence just couldn’t deal with the speed and skill of Udorovic.
The Seniors managed to carve out quite a few first half chances. Udorovic and Amin both sent over two great crosses, however captain MacDonald and Mariadason could only put their shots over the bar. For all their possession and territorial dominance, Old Carey could not make one of their chances count, and found themselves a goal behind at half time.
After the restart, Old Carey looked the better (and more composed) side, as they knocked the ball around well and retained possession for extended periods. They were unable to create any real chances however. Midway through the second half, Richard Stanner came on, in a tactical substitution, in place of Hugh Matthews who had been having a very good game.
For all their pressure and hard work, it looked like Old Carey were heading towards another defeat. Then, on 73 minutes, Roy Chan scored his first goal for Old Carey. Chan got the ball out wide on the right, before cutting inside and curling his shot into the far corner. It was a fantastic individual effort, and was little more than Old Carey deserved.
Following the restart, Michael Hargitay was introduced to the fray, replacing Mariadason.
Sensing that they could obtain three points, the game opened up a lot more. This left Old Carey open to a counter-attack, and they were occasionally caught one-on-one at the back. Sehon Pellew and Peter Henson were both outstanding however, with Pellew shutting Marrone out of the game and Henson very commanding in the air. Marc Arkesteijn was forced in to a few last ditch tackles, as he marshaled his defenders expertly.
However, with little more than 5 minutes to go, Whitehorse almost grabbed a dramatic winner. They won the ball out wide, and their wide left midfielder cut inside and curled the ball towards the far top corner. Paton however pulled off a fantastic save, as he somehow managed to push the ball wide. It was one of Whitehorse’s few forays forward for the game, and would have been a horrible blow to an Old Carey side who had dominated much of the game.
Old Carey then had the chance to win the game themselves late on, however MacDonald and Hargitay, who had looked quite lively since coming on, could only see their shots saved by the Whitehorse keeper.
A positive display for the seniors, but they would again be wondering how they only got a point from the match.
Milestones:
Roy Chan scored his first goal for Old Carey Soccer Club
Ayman Amin made his 50th appearance for the Old Carey Soccer Club
