By David Nagel
A four-week stint on the sidelines hasn’t stopped Pakenham United from maintaining its competitive run of form with the Cougars scoring a late equaliser for a 2-2 draw with White Star Dandenong on Saturday.
The Cougars – who were scheduled to return to the pitch against Endeavour Hills last week, before that team forfeited – could not have asked for a better return to the Men’s State League 5 South competition with Matt Winzenried hitting the back of the net with just three minutes ticked off the clock.
The Cougars were a little rusty after their long hiatus from the game but seemed to maintain control in the opening passages of play with Vince Makota, Cameron Sayce and Simon Johnstone-Robertson all playing their role in protecting keeper Josh Green.
But the complexion of the game changed in the 22nd minute when Amel Mulalic scored for White Star to bring the game back to 1-1. The visitors then struck again, shortly after half time, with Nikolaus Cvetkovic slipping one past Green to make the scores 2-1.
White Star looked confident after its 3-0 victory over Mt Martha last week and looked set to bank a further three points as timed ticked late into the second half.
But the Cougars are made of sterner stuff this year and continually applied pressure, with White Star becoming frustrated and reactive and receiving three yellow cards in the second half.
That frustration reached boiling point for the visitors when Samuel Adeyinka struck a late blow for the Cougars, bringing the home-crowd to life with a quality finish in the 85th minute.
The Cougars then pushed for a late victory, but were forced to settle for their first draw for the season, taking their record to seven wins, three losses and a draw after 11 rounds.
Once the three points are added for the Endeavour Hills forfeit the Cougars will sit in third place, on 22 points, behind runaway ladder leaders Mentone (28 points) and second-placed Hampton Park (23).
The Cougars travel to the Bunyip Recreation Reserve this week to take on the Strikers, who suffered a 4-3 loss to Mentone last week after leading 2-1 at the break.
Liam Lenders scored a brace for the Strikers with Nicholas Yong slotting home his ninth goal for the season.
The local derby between the Strikers and Cougars kicks off at 3pm this Saturday.
