Pacifique Niyongabire’s early opener was cancelled out in the second-half as Adelaide United Youth had to settle for a 1-1 draw against Adelaide City at Adelaide City Park on Saturday.
The Young Reds were out to build on from their impressive victory over MetroStars two weeks’ ago and they made the perfect start two minutes into proceedings.
Carlo Armiento, against his former team, picked out Niyongabire with a low cross from the left wing, who got in front of goalkeeper Ryan Veitch to steer home his close-range finish.
But in the wake of taking the lead in the Round 15 fixture, the visitors had to negotiate a dominant spell from City, who controlled possession for large periods.
To the Young Reds’ credit, however, they were dogged in defence – especially Paul Wilson and Jared Clark – and limited the Black and Whites from mustering any genuine chances.
It became a midfield battle halfway through the first-half, with chances few and far between, before the heavens opened as the rain poured down sideways.
The slippery surface, akin to running on an ice-rink with no skates, only compounded matters for both sets of players as the mistimed tackles began to fly in.
Armiento did have two successive opportunities to increase the advantage approaching half-time to no avail.
The second-half saw City again dictate terms, forcing United to drop back and absorb a lot of pressure.
However, United’s resistance would finally be breached 17 minutes from time as Shannon Day finished off an incisive passing move to net the equaliser.
The rain, coupled with the howling wind arrived intermittently in the second stanza but turned torrential for the remaining 10 minutes as the already inclement weather conditions reached a climax.
Ultimately nothing could separate the two sides, however, the Young Reds again showed a tenacity to match it with several of the competition’s title contenders – creditably a story of their season.
The result extends United’s unbeaten streak to three matches ahead of their midweek catch-up clash against Adelaide Comets at SA Athletics Stadium on Tuesday night.
Key moments:
2’ | GOAL! Niyongabire is quickest to connect with Armiento’s dangerous cross to hand the Young Reds the lead.
41’ | Armiento drives forward before unleashing a stinging strike which hits the side-netting.
42’ | Armiento is again involved, this time striking a low effort intended for the far bottom corner, which takes a slight deflection and is held by Veitch.
73’ | GOAL: City restore parity through an unlikely source as Day gets forward before being played in to finish his right-footed past Isaac Richards.
Reserves:
Adelaide City 0
Adelaide United 3
