Canberra United coach Rae Dower was left frustrated after a number of controversial offside calls cost her side a temporary stay in first place on the W-League ladder.
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United move into outright second on the W-League ladder with the draw but a disappointed Dower says "there was only one team that wanted to win" at McKellar Park on Saturday.
It was a case of deja vu for the hosts and winless Adelaide, with the two sides splitting the honours with the same scoreline earlier this season.
Stand-in skipper Ashleigh Sykes nailed two goals but the side were denied three more in questionable fashion, much to the dismay of the home crowd.
"For 90 minutes we played some really great football, but unfortunately just couldn't strike that killer blow - or maybe did strike that killer blow on a number of occasions," Dower said.
"I might have to book in for a double session with Ben Wilson to check on some rule changes because there was a couple of goals there disallowed, [and] for the life of me I'm not sure why."
Sykes got acquainted with the assistant referee's flag in the opening stages, ruled offside twice after finding the back of the net before either side could break the deadlock.
With a "Kinga Speaks Football" sign hanging over the fence, Yukari Kinga almost replicated her sterling effort against Sydney FC last week as she sent a free kick curling past Adelaide's wall.
Kinga nearly had her second goal in as many games, only to be denied by Adelaide goalkeeper Sarah Willacy's fingertips.
The skipper's frustrations didn't last long after Sykes found herself on the end of a Grace Maher pass to put United in front in the 20th minute.
With the match seemingly at a stalemate, United coach Rae Dower injected Lisa De Vanna into the contest, and the move almost paid off within seconds as the crowd came to life.
It would be Adelaide that struck next after Jenna McCormick brought down a threat from the visitors inside the box. Sofia Huerta stepped up and calmly slotted the penalty to level the scores in the 65th minute.
Canberra looked certain to have snatched back the lead just minutes later before the offside flag went up yet again in controversial fashion - a decision that had Dower out of her seat in dismay.
Sykes went on to nail another goal before Huerta snatched a second equaliser, leaving the United captain left to rue what might have been.
"I hit the back of the net four times, that doesn't actually happen that often in a game I think," Sykes said.
"It was particularly disappointing with that last one. I thought it was a chance to seal the game."
AT A GLANCE
CANBERRA UNITED 2 (Ashleigh Sykes 20', 79') drew with ADELAIDE UNITED 2 (Sofia Huerta 65' pen, 81'). Crowd 1152. Referee: Casey Reibelt.
