THE NAMBUCCA Strikers had every chance to cement their position in the top four of the North Coast Football men's 2nd division competition this afternoon - and squandered it.
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The Strikers recent hot run counted for little when minutes in, Coffs City United pounced on a ball that was curiously left to drift by the Nambucca defenders. One-nil to the visitors and it was the wake-up call that was needed.
From there, the Strikers organised, lifted and dominated the remainder of the half. The mercurial Clay Urquhart equalised from the spot in the box, and Marty Hazell put them ahead when he finished neatly from close range after a good build-up.
But half-time put the brakes on the Nambucca momentum, and minutes into the second stanza the Lions drew even and it was game on.
It was Coffs City now who pressed and one of their raids drew keeper Ben Honeybrook well out in a bid to shut it down. Close it down he did - in a UFC-style collision that stunned both combatants.
After a chat with the linesman, the referee awarded a dottie and the Lions converted to go ahead 3-2.
The Strikers finally found top gear and dominated the later exchanges. They were denied by centimetres when Grant Martin put in a beautiful cross, which Zac Baldwin got a powerful noggin' to, only for the ball to sail wide. The relieved Lions keeper knew a bullet had been dodged, and uttered a four letter word beginning with 's' and ending in 't' and it wasn't "shot".
With time running down, the increasingly desperate Strikers pressed ever harder and deep in attack pleaded for a hand ball infringement. But their exhortations were in vain as only crickets could be heard from the whistle - which Nambucca failed to play to, but not the Lions as they broke fast and went coast to coast to net down the other end to secure an unlikely 4-2 victory.
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