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Adelaide United earned a hard fought 1-1 draw with the Queensland Roar At Suncorp Stadium thanks to an early penalty to skipper Travis Dodd.
The Roar dominated possession and had 10 more shots on goal than their opponents, but were unable to find the back of the net in the last 40 minutes to earn a full three points.
The drama began before the kickoff when Roar coach Frank Farina made a last minute change to his squad to include injured skipper Craig Moore.
Moore jarred his knee at training on Friday and missed yesterday’s session, and even an hour out from the match was not expected to play.
But the 32-year-old took part in the pre-match warmup, and convinced Roar medicos he was capable of taking his place.
Reds coach Aurelio Vidmar said he got a shock to see Moore take the field.
“He wasn’t listed in the starting team and also wasn’t listed on the bench,” Vidmar said after the match.
“I knew that he was warming up before the game so I just asked (the referee) and (Roar coach) Frank (Farina) what was going on. They told me he was having a test. I know that you can change at the very last minute, but he wasn’t listed as one of the subs.”
Moore’s inclusion would have buoyed the 12,761 Suncorp Stadium fans, but they were silenced just eight minutes in when Adelaide striker Cristiano earned a penalty shot by being brought down in the penalty area by Roar defender Josh McCloughan.
Dodd stood up to the mark and delivered, giving the visitors an early lead.
The home side were disjointed in the first half, but came out firing in the second and equalised soon after.
Sergio Van Dijk showed plenty of class with a deft touch to an unmarked Charlie Miller, who drilled his shot past outstretched Reds ‘keeper Eugene Galekovic to level the scores in the 47th minute.
The Roar dominated possession from there on, with Brazilian substitute Reinaldo combining well with Van Dijk and Miller to create a wealth of chances.
However Roar coach Frank Farina said his side should have been able to find a winner on their home ground.
“I was pretty pleased with the way we played, both first half and second half,” Farina said after the match.
“But as I said to the boys we’ve got to close those games out. If we’re serious about doing something this year those sorts of ones you’ve got to close them out, when you’ve got them on the ropes like we had them. You’ve got to do it now, particularly with the cancels we had.”
Vidmar was pleased with the way his side finished off the game to keep the Roar level.
“We’re happy to get the point, absolutely,” he said.
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