Green Gully fell just short of cutting the gap on the top six to four points, after conceding a dramatic late equaliser in their 1-1 draw with Dandenong Thunder on Saturday night, courtesy of an incredible late strike from goalkeeper Pierce Clark.
Gully led for much of the second half after Adolph Koudakpo opened the scoring for the visitors in the 66th minute, but with time expiring, Clark fired home an equaliser to salvage a point for the home side.
It means Gully remain six points behind sixth placed Port Melbourne Sharks on the ladder in the race for finals, after the latter lost earlier in the day against Altona Magic.
Ramon Falzon is still unbeaten in his five games in charge of the senior men’s side, but fell only seconds away from his first victory on the road as coach.
Gully went in unchanged at George Andrews Reserve from their impressive 4-2 win over Oakleigh Cannons a week earlier, but were forced into an early substitution when Matthew Crooks was forced off through injury and replaced by Justin Spiteri.
Chances were few and far between in the first-half, as both sides battled through the wet and wild conditions in Melbourne’s south-east.
With the game hanging in the balance in the second-half, Gully had their moment as a short corner routine was swung into the box by Luca Tevere and nodded into the back of the net by Koudakpo.
Gully had to batten down the hatches as Thunder pushed for an equaliser, but continued to pose a threat in transition as Koudakpo again tried his luck, but his long range shot just went wide of the mark.
The visitors looked set to weather the storm and hang onto a huge three points, until one of the final moments of the game.
Clark came up from the back as Thunder searched for a last gasp equaliser from a free kick.
Gully failed to clear their lines, with the ball falling to Daniel Alessi in a crossing position, whose ball was nodded by Joshua Karantz into the path of Clark who smashed home the equaliser.
The senior men will look to bounce back next Saturday when they host fellow finals contenders Dandenong City.
Prior to kick-off, the Under 23s continued their brilliant season with a resounding 4-0 win, which maintains their six point gap atop the standings.
