Canberra Olympic picked up what might be a vital point through a Daniel Barac 90th-minute equaliser in a 1-1 draw with Monaro Panthers on Saturday.
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Olympic appeared headed to its fifth defeat of the Canberra National Premier League campaign courtesy of Pepe Varga's 48th-minute strike. But Barac ensured a share of the spoils at the Hawker Football Centre when he latched onto a rebound after a stinging drive from Josh Gaspari was pushed away by Panthers goalkeeper Rory Larkin.
The result leaves Olympic fourth on the table on 16 points - nine behind competition front-runner Belconnen United - while the Panthers stay in seventh place on 11 points.
Olympic coach Frank Cachia was proud of his team's performance after doing everything but putting the ball into the back of the net.
"We had every chance to win the game, but Monaro to their credit defended really well and took their chance when it came,'' he said. "If we play like that we'll win more games than we lose. We kept our structures but we just couldn't get that final product.''
Panthers coach Njegosh Popovich praised the work of his defensive back four along with Larkin, who was outstanding despite arriving eight minutes late to the game.
Sixteen-year-old debutant Harrison Cohen made two excellent saves during his brief cameo until Larkin arrived.
"I'm so proud of how the guys played today; it was a very resilient performance,'' Popovich said. "We took some strides against Canberra FC last week [where they led 2-1 before losing 6-2] and continued that today. We'll continue to learn and improve.''
In Sunday's only game at 3pm, second-placed Cooma Tigers (21 points) travel to Deakin Stadium to face Canberra FC (19 points) in a crucial encounter.
CANBERRA NATIONAL PREMIER LEAGUE: Monaro Panthers 1 (Pepe Varga 48') drew Canberra Olympic 1 (Daniel Barac 90') at Hawker Football Centre on Saturday.
