Against all odds the bergers walked away with a point last Sunday against Melbourne Knights. Heidelberg ended the game with 9 players on the park. It also accumulated 5 yellow cards for the match whilst the Knights had only 2 cautions.
Desipte the lobsided refeering the bergers took the early lead from a spot free kick taken by Hockless which found the climbing header of Mark Tsiorlas in the 16th minute of the game. The bergers were playing exciting football and the knights had no answers.
Peter Gavalas had a welcome return to the senior squad after 6 weeks out due to an injury. However, his only blemish for the day resulted in a goal when it seemed a goal destined for the berger defenders to control and clear was made the much worse when Peter attempted to spoil the ball but only to find that his actions caused some confusion with the defenders which resulted in a knights easy goal. 1 – 1
Moments later Tony Ouliaris was given a straight red card from the referree. Players from both sides appeared bemused from the decision. Tony was sent off for intentionally kicking a player. The charge denied by Tony and opposition. Heidelberg would play the remaining match with 10 men up until the last 10 seconds of the match when Tsioralis was red carded for not walking back 10 metres from the ball.
The first half finished 1-1. The bergers came out firing in the second half of the game and had the better of the knights for most of the half depsite playing with one man down. On the other side of the field the knights were finding it difficult to break down the berger defence. Shots were saved and shots were going wide. The bergers were playing one lone striker upfront attempting to catch the knights on the break. In the 74th minute of the game the bergers were rewarded for their courageous game when Saso Aleksovski scored for the bergers. An upset was in the making.
The Knights pushed everyone upfront in an attempt to salvage some pride and points. Finally the bergers defence broke down and the knights scored in the 87th minute. Only 3 minutes to go. It was a great game from both clubs and a great crowd was rewarded with some entertaining football. final score 2-2
