Two late goals have helped Mosgiel to a dramatic draw.
Matt Kelly scored four minutes into added time, giving the team a 4-4 result against Selwyn United in Christchurch in the Southern Football League on Saturday.
Selwyn dominated the opening period of the game and took the lead in the fourth minute, from a corner, when centre back Oliver Cosgrove slid in to bundle the ball home.
Mosgiel was unfortunate not to be awarded a penalty when Selwyn keeper Pieter-taco Beierema floored Rahan Ali in his attempt to punch the ball clear.
In the 17th minute Matt Kelly slipped his marker on halfway and linked with Ali and then Cody Brook — who beat the defender with impunity and drove his shot home.
Kelly then had a thunderous shot tipped over the crossbar. On 27 minutes Selwyn replied with a 20-yard effort from Dan Ede, which Mosgiel keeper Daniel Robinson did well to keep out.
Mosgiel then had its best spell of the game, with Kelly’s chip coming back off the woodwork and Brook rifling the ball into the goal, through the legs of Ali.
Although standing in an offside position, he did not touch the ball and, with no review available, the officials decided he was obstructing the view of the keeper.
Seven minutes later Ali scored when Isaac Hamilton’s reverse pass caught Selwyn napping and Ali delicately lofted the ball over the keeper.
Selwyn responded at the start of the second half when Robinson and the defence collided following Ede’s cross, leaving Jamie Carrodus a simple task of tapping home the equaliser.
Ede scored a quickfire brace.
The first came when he reacted quickest to the rebound, when Calum Murdoch’s header hit the post.
Then in the 77th minute a stray Mosgiel pass resulted in a blocked Selwyn shot deflecting to Ede who beat his man, spun on the ball and shot home from 12 yards out.
Selwyn looked comfortable for the three points, however, with time up, Mosgiel broke forward through Hamilton.
He linked with Rhys Quarrell, who won a corner, which Kelly floated in and Brook rose majestically eight yards out to powerfully head home.
Mosgiel was not finished when, in the fourth minute of added time a long searching ball found Kelly 35 yards out and he laid it out wide to Brook.
Kelly continued his run and he ghosted into the box unmarked and under pressure from his marker and calmly picked his spot to seal a dramatic 4-4 draw.
Saxton Field in Nelson has proven to be a graveyard for our local teams as the Dunedin City Royals became Nelson’s third Dunedin victim, when they succumbed 3-0 to drop to eighth on the table.
In the Southern Women’s Premiership early goals to Keely Osbourne and Samantha Butler helped Queenstown to a 2-1 win over Northern.
Roslyn Wakari also claimed a 2-1 win, over Green Island, goals to Emma Black and Amelia Newlands on either side of halftime key, after Rebecca Walker gave Green Island the initial lead.
The top-of-the-table match between the Dunedin City Royals and Otago University was postponed.
In the ODT Southern premiership the top-of-the-table clash with Northern and Dunedin City Royals resulted in a 2-2 draw, while Roslyn Wakari had an emphatic 5-0 victory over Green Island.
Timaru’s Northern Hearts claimed their second victory, 1-0 over University.
Yesterday, Green Island was beaten 4-1 by league front-runners Cashmere Technical.
Harrison McLean scored in the first half and the score remained tied at 1-1 at halftime, before Cashmere pulled away.
- Neville Watson
