Words: Matt Dorman

Palm Beach SC Women scored twice in the final 10 minutes to earn a 2-2 draw with The Gap Women at Walton Bridge Reserve on Sunday night.

Gators led for over an hour but were unable to keep the league leaders from a salvaging a point at the death.

Several players tried their luck in the opening exchanges as Leah Curtis, Victoria Stephenson and Gabe Marzano all had shots without success.

Marzano, though, was able to find the bottom corner at the near post with her next effort to give the home side a 1-0 lead inside 20 minutes.

Neither side was able to affect the scoresheet for the remainder of the half as Gators retained their slim advantage at the break.

Sharks began to threaten after the hour with Jess Austin drawing a save while Meaghan McElligott hit the woodwork.

However, it was the hosts who managed to make it 2-0 with around 20 minutes to play through Bethany Ashton’s finish from Ruth Blackburn’s pass.

Curtis might have secured all three points but the midfielder shot wide after another Blackburn pass.

Instead it was Sharks who cut the margin in half when McElligott shot low and hard in the 80^th minute.

The visitors were then able to secure a dramatic draw with only a few minutes remaining, Bronte Rose volleying home from a corner to extend the Gold Coast side’s unbeaten run to five matches.

Speaking after the match, Gators coach Rob Askew believed his side should have done better with their advantage.

“Very disappointed to be honest. At the end I guess we were kind of lucky to get away with a 2-2 result,” Askew said.

Sharks coach French was proud of his players’ late response in coming from two goals down.

“I looked around and they didn’t put their heads down. We just got the ball back, we still wanted to play, we still wanted to go at them,” French said.

Listen to the full post match interviews below.

Palm Beach SC Women 2 (Meaghan McELLIGOTT 80’ Bronte ROSE 86’)
The Gap FC Women 2 (Gabe MARZANO 16’ Bethany ASHTON 68’)