Adelaide United Youth has produced a superb recovery mission to draw 3-3 with Sydney FC Youth in their National Youth League match at Cromer Park on Saturday afternoon.
Trailing 3-1 at half time, the young Reds responded in emphatic fashion as they pegged back the deficit to salvage a point.
Reds striker Francesco Monterosso took a huge step towards securing his second consecutive National Youth League golden boot as he gave United the lead in the 13th minute.
But from there, the remainder of the first half belonged to the home side as Iain Ramsay struck twice, the first coming from the spot, before Joel Chianese made it 3-1 at the break.
Staring down the barrel at another defeat against arguably their biggest rivals, United’s Youth returned from the change rooms a different outfit.
With a greater work ethic and commitment, the young Reds were determined to fight their way back and just after the hour mark they were given a lifeline as Sydney FC was reduced to ten men when Dimitrios Petratos was sent off for a challenge on Milovanovic.
From there the Reds surged, Milovanovic converting a penalty in the 77th minute before a sublime header from Hyundai A-League striker Lloyd Owusu squared the game up with three minutes plus injury time to play.
Reds midfielder Andrew Ciarla missed a chance at the death to pinch the victory, but he failed to hit the target with his close range effort.
While the result still leaves United’s Youth without a win over Sydney FC in their seven meetings, Coach Joe Mullen was pleased with his side’s resilience and concentration, especially the further the game went on, an part of their game that has been their achilles heel this season.
“Our first 15 minutes were very good and then we conceded two goals in a minute, and coming into half time we played some of the poorest football we’ve played all season,” Mullen said.
“At half time we demanded a little bit more, changed the shape and just went for it. We had nothing to lose and to the boys’ credit, they dug deep, worked extremely hard and got themselves back into the game.”
“We were on top of the game and when we got the second goal we were confident we could get a third.”
The young Reds remain in third place heading into the final minor round of the season and return home to face an in form Gold Coast United Youth on Sunday, March 7 in a match that is set to have a significant bearing on who will make it into the semi finals.
Match Details
Sydney FC Youth 3 (Ramsay 26’ (pen)/28’, Chianese 40’)
Adelaide United Youth 3 (Monterosso 13’, Milovanovic 77’ (pen), Owusu 87’)
Cromer Park
Referee: Kris Griffith-Jones
http://www.adelaideunited.com.au
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