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NYL: Ten man United take a share of the points

A goal 13 minutes from time by substitute Bobby Russell was a just reward for a United side that played the whole second half a man down following the dismissal of Chris Lucas in the latter stages of the first period.

Lucas was given what United’s bench thought was a harsh red card for a solid challenge on Josh Groenwald and with Heart leading 2-1 at the time it seemed as if United’s quest for points was set to be a fruitless one.

But Gold Coast’s numerical disadvantage barely showed as they took the game to their opponents in what coach Mike Mulvey described as the best performance by ten men against eleven that he has ever seen.

United dominated possession in the second 45 minutes and Russell’s measured finish to make it 2-2 after Ronto’s dynamic run down the right was the least they deserved for a fine performance.

But it was the home side who got off to a flying start with Heart taking the lead in just the 6^th minute thanks to Craig Goodwin’s weaving run into the box, which ended with the youngster finishing confidently for 1-0.

United’s response almost came immediately when Jake Barker-Daish swerved a fine effort towards goal that thumped back off the upright before being cleared to safety.

Midway through the first half Gold Coast were rewarded for their good work with a deserved equaliser. Daniel Severino was the man who found the net, crashing a fine strike past Nikola Roganovic to level the scores following good lead up work from Mitch Cooper and Chris Lucas.

But parity was short-lived for United and just five minutes later Adrian Zahra restored Heart’s advantage. Goodwin was again involved, this time creating the goal with another fine run and cross that left Zahra with an easy tap in.

Before Russell’s late leveller Gold Coast had earlier chances to even up the scores. When Ronto was felled in the box ten minutes after the restart the excellent Jake Barker-Daish struck the resulting penalty well, only for Roganovic to make a superb flying save to his left.

The impressive Josh Brillante was the architect of Gold Coast’s next chance. His lung-busting 40-metre run, then well-weighted through-ball to Mitch Cooper, would have been rewarded had Roganovic not been equal to Cooper’s effort.

“We showed great character today and even though we played more than half the game with ten men we still dominated and are disappointed not to have won the game,” said Mike Mulvey after the match.

“I thought the red card was harsh, but we regrouped at half-time, kept possession well and had plenty of attacking threats.

“We kept trying to create chances and you would have to go a long way to see ten men play better than that against eleven. It was the best I’ve seen,” he added.