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Australian A-League

Nov 16, 2014 at 6am UK

Melbourne City Melbourne City
2-2
Central Coast Central Coast Mariners

Dugandzic (10'), Paartalu (53')

FT(HT: 1-0)

Trifiro (79'), Hutchinson (94')

Match Report

Football

Dominant Melbourne City hit by Central Coast Mariners sucker punch

By Kristian Johnson, Reporter | 16 November 2014

John Hutchinson nets an injury-time equaliser as Central Coast Mariners come from two goals down to rescue a 2-2 draw at Melbourne City.

John Hutchinson netting a 94th-minute equaliser as Central Coast Mariners came from two goals down to rescue an unlikely 2-2 draw at Melbourne City.

Melbourne dominated for the majority of the A-League game and Damien Duff hit a shot at Liam Reddy in the seventh minute as the home side started brightly.

It took them just 10 minutes to open the scoring as Mate Dugandzic guided a diving header into the back of the net.

Dugandzic fired three further shots wide before the break, while Reddy pulled off an impressive save from David Williams in the 34th minute as the Mariners struggled to cope with the home side's attacking verve.

Immediately after the restart, Matt Sim was presented with a glorious opportunity to get his side back on level terms, but the winger fired straight at Andrew Redmayne.

A few minutes later, Erik Paartalu made it 2-0 to Melbourne with a simple header from close range after some shoddy defending by the visitors.

Former Chelsea and Fulham winger Duff was impressive throughout and forced a further save from the in-form Reddy, while Jacob Melling also drew a fine stop from the visiting goalkeeper.

The Mariners struggled to create chances over the course of the 90 minutes, but 10 minutes from time Glen Trifiro bent a fine free kick into the top corner to make for a nervy finish.

A late comeback was complete when Hutchinson thumped a 25-yard strike into the bottom corner with the last kick of the game.