A-League top-dogs Brisbane Roar stretched their unbeaten run to a record 21 games with their 3-3 draw against the Central Coast on Wednesday night.
In a sea-sawing, action packed encounter Erik Paartalu, Thomas Broich and James Meyer scored for the top-placed Roar, with Mariners star striker Adam Kwasnik, Matt Simon and Argentine import Patricio Perez replying at Bluetongue Stadium.
Roar midfielder Paartalu broke the early deadlock in the 23rd minute, his goal coming off a set piece after knocking in his header off a Broich corner.
The hosts should have equalised in the 32nd minute when Simon met a Josh Rose cross, replays showing his header was only denied by a Matthew Smith handball that the referees missed much to the frustration of the 7312 Mariners fans.
But the hosts were vindicated only five minutes later when their top scorer Kwasnik beat Roar skipper Shane Stefanutto to slot home his ninth goal of the season.
Perez looked like putting the hosts in front just before the break with his powerful strike denied only by the woodwork.
The Mariners came back looking to create chances in the second half and only had to wait one minute to be rewarded with Simon making a well-timed run into the box to score off a Perez freekick.
Oliver Bozanic almost widened the gap, his shot moments later just shaving the near post.
Bozanic then combined beautifully with Simon, who forced a great save from Roar gloveman Michael Theoklitos.
With less than half an hour to go momentum seemed to have swung the visitors’ way, the Mariners easily giving away possession allowing the Roar’s German import Broich to score the equaliser.
Milan Susak was then sent off after earning his second yellow card of the match for bringing down Rose in the box.
Perez stepped up to take the spot-kick and made no mistake, slotting home his third goal for the Mariners, all three the result of penalties, as Central Coast chased the three points.
But they couldn’t maintain their lead, Roar substitute James Meyer levelling the score with a stunning long-range strike in the 79th minute.
The action didn’t abate until the final whistle with a Simon shot cleared off the line by Theoklitos in the the dying minutes, followed by a Kosta Barbarouses effort only seconds later at the other end.
Roar coach Ange Postecoglou praised his team’s tenacity to keep the home side at bay.
“I’m pretty proud of this group,” he said post-match.
“We keep on finding ways of overcoming challenges.
“We were running a bit on empty tonight, the Central Coast are very good, they put us under a lot of pressure, but this group of players just refuses to give in.”
Postecoglou also mentioned the devastating floods in Queensland which have not only affected the team’s training regime but has touched the players personally.
“Of course (the floods in Brisbane) are playing on everyone’s minds.
“A lot of the boys are personally affected and it does play on your mind.
“It’s been a tough 24 hours, but we spoke about it before the game that we represent the city and and the state and it was important tonight to put in a massive effort tonight.”
Mariners coach Graham Arnold would have loved a win for his third-placed team but was more than satisfied with a draw against the top side.
“It was a cracking game, a fantastic game,” Arnold said.
“I thought we were the better side, we should have won the game.
“But overall I thought it was fantastic.”
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