They didn't walk away with the three points, but Helensburgh have proven they belong in the Premier League after playing out a 2-2 draw with Wollongong United on Saturday.
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In a strange but absorbing contest at Macedonia Park, the IPL newbies stunned United by taking an early 2-0 lead, only for the reigning league premiers to fight back and draw level, as both teams shared the honours.
Liam Unicomb gave the Thistles - who were missing some key personnel including captain Vaughan Patterson - the perfect start to their 2023 campaign when he scored inside 20 minutes, before the visitors doubled their lead soon after via Kade Kinsella.
However, a Rob Watson-own goal saw the deficit pegged back to 2-1 at the main break, before Kyah Jonovanovski's goal early in the second stanza rounded out the scoring.
"It was a weird game, I've never seen a team so direct. Every ball went to a fullback, who just lumped it up the field. I'm not sure if that was a special tactic for us, because we didn't have Vaughan and (Blake) Currey here, but it made the game hard to play," Thistle coach Andy Paine told the Mercury.
"It essentially forced us into being a fast-break side, but I thought we were good value for the lead - because we engineered the better chances. But we gave away a couple of naive ones later in the game.
"I never want to say I'm happy to settle for a point. The game was in the balance, it was there to be won. I could have chucked some centre-backs on to protect the draw, but I didn't, I put two forwards on.
"I'm disappointed, but in the grand scheme of things, the top teams get draws against the top sides."
United piled on the pressure during the first 10 minutes on Saturday, but were unable to capitalise on the momentum, while the visitors looked sturdy at the back.
And Helensburgh made them pay on the counter-attack, with Unicomb kicking truly from the edge of the box to give them a 1-0 lead. United almost had the immediate response, with Mitsuo Yamada and Jovanovski both hitting the woodwork, however, the Thistles held on.
United continued to look the more dangerous side in the front third during the opening 20 minutes. On the counter, Helensburgh nearly had their second, but Brad Watts' shot swayed wide of goals.
However, it mattered not, as Kinsella fired the ball into the back of the net in the 25th minute to give the Thistles a 2-0 lead.
Despite the setback, United continued to control possession and piled on the pressure. They were rewarded five minutes later when Jovanoski put in a nice low cross for Yamada, which hit Watson and went into goals to cut the deficit to 2-1.
Both sides had some chances during the rest of the stanza, but that's how the score remained at halftime.
The game continued to ebb and flow early in the second half, with United's best chance coming about 10 minutes in through Yamada's strong strike - who was denied by diving Helensburgh gloveman Jordan Paull.
However, the hosts kept pressing hard and were rewarded when Yamada set up a flying Jovanovski to drill home the goal and draw level at 2-2.
Despite that disappointment, Helensburgh didn't go into their shells, with Watts coming within centimetres of scoring. At the other end, United continued to press hard, but weren't proving clinical in their front third.
Both teams became more desperate going forward as the half went on, with the ball pinging from end to end. United in particular continued to push hard. From a corner, the ball fell to the feet of Aaron Hales, who drilled the ball towards goal - but was denied by Paull.
At the other end, Helensburgh's Caleb Browne and Jarrod Benham both had good late chances to score, only to be denied, as the sides had to settle for a 2-2 stalemate.
"It's a bit frustrating, but you've got to give credit to Helensburgh. They came here and they were hungry. I thought we had a really good start to the game, but it seems to be the pattern to our pre-season. We had four or five chances in the first 10 minutes but the first time they get to a half, they score," United coach Billy Tsovolos said.
"But if you look at our squad, it's pretty young. We had six boys under the age of 23 start today, and they fall apart, and we saw that for the next 15 to 20 minutes in that first half.
"We got ourselves back into it with a goal, and came out in that first 15 minutes in that second half, grabbed ourselves another goal and got on top again. We showed good energy, but lacked any quality to take control of the game, which was there for the taking."
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Joshua Bartlett
A sporting fanatic who is keen to promote all codes in the Illawarra and abroad. Mercury's chief football reporter.
A sporting fanatic who is keen to promote all codes in the Illawarra and abroad. Mercury's chief football reporter.
