Ten-man Albion Park White Eagles came back from three goals down to snatch a dramatic 5-4 victory against Corrimal Rangers on a crazy afternoon at Memorial Park on Sunday.
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In one of the best comebacks in recent Illawarra Premier League history, Park scored twice in the final three minutes to steal a memorable away win.
Shaun McRae fired home a clutch goal in the 93rd minute after Oliver Carrasco had levelled the scores at 4-all in a drama-charged final few minutes. Cameron Morgan was the true star of the show, bagging a hat-trick.
Park had been 3-0 down after just 23 minutes and had Shannon Fielding sent off in the 37th minute when they still trailed 3-1.
White Eagles coach Paul Carter was in awe of his troops after the fightback.
"I am rapt for boys," he said.
"To be honest we were rubbish [early on]. We went into the sheds and I said to the players that we can still do it because we got that goal before half time.
"I said, if you pull one back and you stay disciplined, we can do this.
"It is all credit to them.
"It was a big character win for us. It was brilliant."
Park started the game terribly and conceded their first in the ninth minute when Alvin Ceccoli latched onto a free kick.
The Rangers lead was doubled Tomoki Wada tapped in from close range before Van Elia made it 3-0 with a drilled effort into the bottom corner in the 23rd minute.
Morgan gave the visitors a hope when he expertly curled a free kick into the bottom corner two minutes later, but those chances looked in severe doubt after Fielding picked up his second yellow in a matter of minutes.
It was a big character win for us. It was brilliant
- Paul Carter
The White Eagles had other ideas, scoring a scrappy goal just a minute after half time when Morgan struck again.
The comeback took another turn when the White Eagles striker curled a delightful effort from over the head of Corrimal keeper Nik Loe in the 65th minute.
A header from Tim Wylie restored the Rangers lead just four minutes later, but the main drama was still to come.
Carrasco dragged the White Eagles back level with a low strike from outside the box before McRae took his chance at the death to seal a dramatic win.
Rangers coach Rob Jonovski was gutted the three points got away from his side.
"I am obviously disappointed in the result and thought we could have won the game by many more and we didn't," he said. "It's a credit to White Eagles. They fought. It is not a nice feeling.
"I thought we played really well.
"We controlled the game and they caught a couple of times, with a nice free kick but they stuck in.
"I am proud of my boys but gutted."
Elsewhere, Tarrawanna ensured they remain top of the league with an important 2-0 home win over Wollongong United.
Rick Goodchild and Mitchell Ferraro both got on the scoresheet for the league leaders.
