Wollongong Wolves were in the box seat for victory for the majority of the game against Sydney Olympic, but in the end had to walk away from Belmore with nothing.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Olympic won the game 4-3 despite a Takumi Ofuka double that had the Wolves leading 2-0 at half-time.
A stunning turn of events saw Olympic restore parity on the hour mark thanks to goals from Michael Vakis and Darcy Burgess.
Andre Takumi thought he had won it for David Carney's side late-on, before Teng Kuol strolled into the box in stoppage time to make it 3-3.
That is what the score line looked destined to finish, before Olympic captain Roy O'Donovan scored in the 95th minute to give his team a famous 4-3 victory.
Olympic 4-3 Wolves
The Wolves utterly dominated the opening proceedings, with Olympic goalkeeper Noah James under a constant barrage from the Wollongong attack.
Carney's side amounted six corners inside the first 16 minutes, further highlighting their attacking dominance over Labinot Haliti's team.
Former Tarrawanna Illawarra Premier League product Ofuka got in behind and ran straight towards goal, where he made no mistake to give the Wolves the lead in the 21st minute.
The home side had a couple of shots on target as the first half progressed through O'Donovan and Peter Politis, both efforts straight down the arms of Wolves goalkeeper Vedran Janjetovic.
With half-time approaching, Ofuka left the Olympic defenders dazed and confused by scoring his second and giving the Wolves a 2-0 lead going into half-time.
It was a moment of magic to allow the space inside the box, with everything Ofuka touching evidently turning into gold at present.
Second half
Olympic coach Haliti had to change something and he did, bringing on former A-League product Adam Parkhouse, a change which made an immediate impact.
Parkhouse whipped in a trademark left-footed cross and found Vakis free at the back post who made no mistake in the first minute of the second half.
On the hour mark Olympic restored parity thanks to a goal from Darcy Burgess to make it 2-2. It was extremely frustrating for the Wolves, who had dominated large parts of the game.
Andre Takami's late heroics
The Wolves pushed on for a late winner and they got it in the form of former Wollongong Olympic IPL player Andre Takumi.
Dylan Ryan delivered a cross into Chris McStay, with the ball landing to Takami in the box who hit his shot at James, who could not prevent the ball from going in.
From there, the Wolves were left to hang onto their slender 3-2 lead with 10 minutes plus stoppage time to go.
Game turns on its head
Although they looked settled for three points, the Wolves ended up with nothing after Olympic scored two goals in stoppage time.
Kuol scored first after he was given plenty of time and space in the box.
To have to settle for a draw was bad enough, but in the end the Wolves would have been hoping for a point after O'Donovan scored in the 95th minute to hand Olympic a 4-3 win.
Haliti and his team went wild after the game as the Wolves were left to lick their wounds after two straight losses.
Next time
Next week will be a tough test at WIN Stadium in the form of defending premiers APIA on Sunday, April 7. Kickoff is 3pm.