The Lilydale Eagles were back at home to take on the Bayswater Strikers on Saturday 21 June.
The Reserves were up first, and while they looked to be the better side early in the match, it was the Strikers who struck first when Glen Brown was slid through in the 18th minute and tucked his shot gently into the corner.
Things went from bad to worse for Lilydale quickly when in the 21st minute, Bayswater made it 0-2 when a shot came in from the left wing that Eagles keeper Callum Ludwig could only spill into the path of Archer Maudsley.
Needing to regroup, the Eagles made some subs and they had an instant impact, with Daniel ‘Dicko’ Dickson able to put the ball in the back of the net with his weak foot in the 28th minute to peg it back to 1-2.
Just a minute later and Dicko was involved again, with his long throw finding Trent Scott-Elsley, who fired a wonderful volley into the bottom corner to equalise for the Eagles.
The Eagles’ turnaround did not stop there either, with again only a minute later the ball finding its way to Trent Scott-Elsley who made it 3-2 after a three-minute burst from Lilydale.
The Eagles started to get well on top and their dominance continued when Trent Scott-Elsley completed a fine first-half trick in the 44th minute with a delightful little dink over the goalkeeper, showcasing a sense of composure that was a far cry from his open goal miss a few weeks prior.
After halftime, things got cagier and the lack of true chances started to dry up. Both teams had their moments on the ball but lacked a killer final ball.
In the 60th minute, things got scary for the Eagles when a corner from Strikers’ goalscorer Brown was whipped in and Ludwig could only get a hand to it and was unable to keep it from finding its way into the back of the net to make it a nervy 4-3 advantage to Lilydale.
The Eagles remained sturdy at the back, however and looked to be holding out for a win until the 88th minute when that wasn’t exciting enough for midfielder Marcus Salvitti who took matters into his own hands and got himself sent off.
Thankfully for Lilydale, they were able to see out the tense last few minutes and added time to secure a 4-3 win and are fourth on the ladder.
The Firsts were up next and looking for a positive result after a disappointing loss last week.
Things got off to a flying start when a lovely move dowm the left hand side in only the 5th minute saw Ethan Emmett fire a low cross into the box which was met by midfielder Connor Hartman whose side-footed effort found the net and gave the Eagles an early 1-0 lead.
The Eagles seemed to be well on top on the first half with some lovely pass and move play that the Strikers had no answer for, but that Lilydale were unable to finish, including shots that flashed wide or over the bar from Bailey Hone and Emmett.
The Strikers struggled to create much of note with the primary centre back pairing of Solomon ‘Amons’ Hranglung and Dicko proving solid and Hartman also putting in a shift towards the end of the half in the absence of Kaiden Deany-Smith and Lachy Hamling.
Full back Braden Zammit had also been solid despite being on the end of a few painful fouls.
The Eagles made it to halftime unscathed but looking to further their advantage in the second half.
The Strikers came out with a bit more intent after the break and got back in the game a bit more, finding space down the right wing a few times but without any killer final ball breaking through.
Bayswater players did have a penalty shout for handball waved away by the referee after a goalward-bound lob was cut off by Dicko, using his shoulder and not his arm, according to the referee, to take the ball away from the goalmouth.
The Eagles struggled to create meaningful chances early in the half but did have a golden opportunity late.
As the Strikers committed numbers forward, the Eagles Levi Clausen and Bailey Hone were able to work a nice passing play on the right-hand side that saw Clausen played through down the middle, but his shot with the outside of his boot as a defender bore down on him went just high and wide.
Shortly after, Zammit was in the wars again, this time taking a knee to the back that saw him subbed off with more lower back pain than Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal’s characters in Brokeback Mountain.
The clock was ticking down when the Strikers had a throw-in in an attacking area on the right wing. The throw came in and could only be headed straight up in the air by Dicko, leaving Lilydale’s Jake ‘Digga’ Dioguardi to contest with the Bayswater attacker.
Bayswater’s Pascal Traczewski beat Digga to it and his looping header made its way over the outstretched Ludwig for a heartbreaking 90th minute equaliser.
The game ended 1-1 for the Firsts, in their only draw of the season so far.
Both Lilydale sides will travel to Balwyn North next week to take on One FC.
