The record books will show that the Football Kingz and the Melbourne Knights fought out a 2-2 draw in their Australian National Soccer League encounter at Ericsson Stadium on December 8. The story they won’t tell, however, is that of a match which had more twists in its final throws than one would find in a Tom Clancy blockbuster! At half-time, the three points looked to be heading back to Melbourne, as the visitors exploited the spaces afforded them by a Kingz side sorely lacking in self-confidence to head to the break an Alex Kiratzoglou goal to the good, an advantage which, in all honesty, should have been greater. That scoreline remained unaltered deep into the second spell, although by this stage, the home side, benefiting immensely from the 54th minute introduction of Harry Ngata, were doing everything but score - including playing with just two defenders!! With three minutes left, Mark Burton headed the Kingz level, much to the delight of their ever-vocal faithful. A minute into stoppage time, 5559 fans came close to taking the roof off the main grandstand, as player-coach Wynton Rufer unleashed yet another technically perfect volley to give the Kingz a sniff of victory. But there was still time for the Knights to regroup and find a way through the home team’s defences to snatch a draw from the jaws of defeat, as Adrian Cervinski snatched a last-gasp equaliser in the third minute of stoppage time to earn his side a point - the second week in a row in which the Melbourne club has found the target in the final minute of play. Yet the Knights should never have found themselves in the position of having to chase the game in its dying stages - it was theirs for the taking well before the final whistle. That they didn’t do so was due in no small part to the efforts of Kingz goalkeeper, Chris Marsh. He was first called into action in the twentieth minute, just seconds after Rufer had fired the first shot of the game in anger at the other end of the park, a deflected twenty-five yard drive which brought to an end a decidedly cagey phase of play. The outstanding Andy Vargas, as he was for the vast majority of the evening, sparked the Knights’ prompt riposte, his pass to Kiratzoglou being turned into the path of Cervinski. The striker, who struck twice in his side’s 4-0 rout of the New Zealand contenders in their last encounter, was denied by the knees of Marsh on this occasion. The goalkeeper foiled the striker with far more ease nine minutes later, following a poorly struck free-kick, then thwarted Joel Porter on the half-hour, the midfielder shooting tamely as the Knights failed to make the most of a four-on-three attacking situation. Porter quickly looked to redeem himself, after Vargas, who was afforded a disturbing amount of space by the Kingz midfield far too often for comfort, delivered a delicious pass inside Che Bunce for the overlapping Cervinski. His angled pull-back invited Porter to pick his spot from twenty yards, but Marsh produced a fine diving save low to his left. The goalkeeper was found wanting in the 34th minute, however, as the Knights took the lead their attacking efforts richly deserved. Burton was caught in possession by Porter, who laid the ball off to Toto Da Costa, wide on the left. He clipped a cross towards the far post, where Kiratzoglou was arriving with daylight for company. Marsh quickly came to gather the ball, but hesitated - a fatal mistake for any last line of defence when there’s nothing but net behind you! The lanky Kiratzoglou couldn’t believe his luck, and headed home a soft goal from six yards. Tim Stevens and Jonathan Perry both gave Knights’ goalkeeper Lupce Acevski, a largely inactive figure in the first half, cause for concern soon after, before Aaran Lines hit the top of the sidenetting with a clever curling free-kick from the edge of the penalty area in stoppage time. There were at least five minutes of this before referee Mark Shield - Australia’s best, without question! - blew the half-time whistle, and prior to his doing so, the scoreline could have been altered by either side. Two superb Porter corners caused scenes of chaos in the Kingz penalty area, with Riki Van Steeden blocking a Cervinski shot at point-blank range, seconds before the home side’s goalmouth took on pinball machine-like qualities, aspects the visitors’ goal area reflected within seconds, as Burton launched a counter-attack which also featured the recalled Aaron Silva and Perry, and which ultimately resulted in a free-kick which allowed Lines to add to the confusion. The second half started in much the same manner in which the first half had largely been played - the Knights enjoying the run of the ground, with their hosts offering them every opportunity to do so. Vargas wasn’t slow to take advantage, and led three opponents a merry dance before cleverly switching the angle of the attack to Cervinski on the right. His half-volley whistled inches over the top of Marsh’s goal in the 48th minute. Nine minutes later, a dipping Cervinski free-kick required a fingertip save from Marsh, as the goalkeeper kept his side in contention, not that their performance justified it to this point. That all changed, however, with the introduction of Ngata to the fray - a tactical substitution which changed the entire complexion of the match. With the calming influence of their captain spraying the

ball around from his anchoring role in front of the defensive trio, and easing the pressure on Burton in the process, the enigmatic Kingz started to impose themselves on proceedings, to the extent that you could be forgiven for thinking you were watching a completely different match from that seen in the first hour! Only a timely Sasa Ogenovski tackle thwarted Stevens in the 67th minute, following a Lines corner, another of which, seconds later, resulted in Burton’s snapshot on the turn being splendidly saved low to his left by Acevski. The rebound was just beyond Rufer, and forced Vicelich to fire an off-balance shot over the crossbar from six yards out. Ngata’s growing influence on proceedings almost saw him steal an equaliser in the 69th minute. Sparking an attack from deep within his own half, he fed Stevens before galloping forward. Burton was the next recipient of the ball, which he took on a few yards prior to picking out Stevens once more - he, too, was on the charge. A low cross from the Kingz leading scorer found Ngata homing in on the near post, but Jason Vukadin did enough to put off the former Hull City professional. Acevski was forced to save from Burton once more in the 71st minute, before the Knights looked to expose the home team’s defensive frailties four minutes later, Kiratzoglou and Da Costa working a one-two down the right. The former’s cross, meant for the incoming Paul Magdic, was headed clear by the retreating Vicelich. Back came the Kingz, Stevens going close with a chip, before the Knights’ next contribution to a match which, in its closing stages, was quickly taking on all the elements one would associate with a roller-coaster ride. Vargas - who else? - sent Xhezair Sulemani powering away down the right and into the penalty area. Osman closed the ground quickly on the striker, and his strong challenge forced the substitute to shoot over on the stretch with eight minutes remaining on the clock. Two minutes later, Kiratzoglou led another left-flank raid before switching play to Magdic. Osman thwarted this substitute as well, but couldn’t get to Cervinski seconds later, as Vargas exploited the Kingz short-numbered defence with a raking through ball which the striker ultimately chipped narrowly wide of the far post. Once more, the home side came forth in search of their first goal at Fortress Ericsson for six weeks. Ibrahim thought he’d got it, when a raking Riki Van Steeden free-kick dropped from such an awkward height that Acevski, with Rufer contesting possession, completely misjudged the flight of the ball. It fell nicely for Ibrahim, who looked certain to score, only for Vukadin to produce an outstanding last-gasp tackle and avert the danger. Burton’s resulting corner was cleared to Van Steeden, the last Kingz defender, standing some ten yards inside the Knights’ half. Inexplicably, he gifted possession to, of all people, Vargas, who was left with half the field to traverse, and just Marsh to beat. On surged the midfielder, whose performance richly deserved a goal. But it was denied him by the defiant OlyWhites custodian, who stood his ground well, then courageously snatched the ball off Vargas’ toe as the playmaker looked to take the ball round him. Marsh quickly launched a Kingz counter-attack, and this time, it bore fruit for the home side, much to the delight of their ever-vocal supporters. Rufer slipped a pass to Ibrahim, who forced Stevens to back-track on a run through the inside-left channel with another pass. The striker made the most of it, however, Stevens’ cross dropping neatly for Burton to guide home a header from six yards and restore parity - 1-1. That was the score for all of four minutes. A minute into stoppage time, Vicelich gathered the ball on the right, and knocked over a hopeful cross which Vukadin headed clear of Ibrahim. The sphere dropped perfectly for the lurking figure of Rufer, and the sheer delight and joy on his face, as he raced away to celebrate his first-time volley arrowing past Acevski into the bottom far corner of the net, showed just how much the goal meant to him personally, at the end of a week in which a number of questions have been asked regarding the Kingz continuing on-field inconsistencies. It should have been the winning goal - it deserved to be, on quality alone. But there was yet another twist to come, and with a minute remaining in stoppage time, delight turned to despair for the Kingz players and supporters, as the Melbourne Knights, who had fallen to their knees twice in the previous six minutes, underlined for the second week in a row that it ain’t over till it’s over! Kiratzoglou’s pass inside to Magdic resulted in substitute Anton Kovacic charging forward with nothing to lose. The timing of his pass to Cervinski was perfect, as was the judgment of linesman Wayne Stapley - onside. The striker, who had gone close so often earlier in the game, finally found the target, poking home the equaliser past the advancing Marsh to bring about the final 2-2 scoreline in suitably dramatic fashion. Kingz:          Marsh; Bunce (Bluhm, 75), Osman, Van Steeden; Perry, Vicelich, Burton, Lines (Ibrahim, 68); Silva (Ngata, 54), Stevens, Rufer Knights:     Acevski; Ogenovski, R. Vargas (booked, 28), Vukadin, Rajher (booked, 23); Nastevski, Kiratzoglou, A. Vargas, Porter (Magdic, 70); Cervinski, Da Costa (booked, 17) (Sulemani, 79 (Kovacic, 83)) Referee:     Mark Shield