Prolific striker Shane Smeltz scored in injury time to salvage a 1-1 draw for Gold Coast United in their A-League clash with Adelaide at Skilled Stadium on Saturday night.
The bottom-placed Reds looked certain to pick up three valuable points before Smeltz bagged his 19th goal of the season – two more than Adelaide’s team total – to save his team from embarrassment after they were outclassed for much of the match.
The draw moves Gold Coast to 34 points on the ladder – one behind premiers Melbourne Victory and four behind competition leader Sydney FC, who both play on Sunday.
Gold Coast skipper Jason Culina, back from a knee injury which prevented him from playing in Australia’s mid-week Asian Cup draw in Kuwait, provided the pinpoint cross for his striker to score in front of a poor crowd of 4,505.
But Adelaide – having previously won just two out of their past 10 matches – showed enough enthusiasm and passion to suggest that coach Aurelio Vidmar should not totally give up hope of their sneaking into the top six.
Skipper Travis Dodd, who had a whale of a game, deservedly slotted home in a lacklustre first half.
Former Brisbane Roar midfielder Charlie Miller and Joel Porter had poor games for the Gold Coast and were both substituted in the 61st minute.
Smeltz had an early chance to grab the lead but pushed his powerful header just wide in the 8th minute.
From that point the home side lost its way as passes went astray and attacking cohesion was virtually non-existent.
Dodd scored a fairly soft 20th minute goal thanks to the speed of Brazilian Cassio, who was allowed too much time and space as he flicked the ball back to Matthew Leckie.
He simply passed to his unmarked captain, who had no trouble slamming the ball past goalkeeper Jess Vanstrattan to hand the visitors a shock 1-0 lead.
Perhaps frustrated by poor service from his midfield, New Zealand international Smeltz received a yellow card for a crude tackle on Ian Fyfe in the 41st minute.
The Reds continued to pile on the pressure in the second half through opportunities to the outstanding Dodd and Leckie but couldn’t land the killer blow.
Adelaide were forced into defensive mode in the dying stages as Gold Coast pushed hard for a draw they finally claimed in extra time.
Bleiberg admitted that Adelaide deserved to win although he was happy to exact revenge after the Reds drew with Gold Coast in similar circumstances in round 15.
“I believe they got back what they deserved,” he said.
“In all honesty, Adelaide deserved more.
“Their desperation of such a proud club not to finish last was stronger than our desperation as a young club to take advantage and climb into the top two.
“We had a bad day and we got something out if it. That’s a sign of good things to come.”
In such a crucial match, Vidmar was left rueing missed opportunities.
“I thought we deserved to win two games tonight,” he said.
“In truth we could’ve had three or four goals.
“It was really disappointing to concede in the last 30 seconds.
“We were desperate for the three points tonight and we played like a team that was entirely focused.
“I’m really proud of the way they performed.”
Vidmar said Fyfe suffered suspected knee ligament damage and a sore ankle from Smeltz’s illegal tackle on the defender.
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