Relegation threatened Mount Druitt Town Rangers came to Arlington Oval to fight a thrilling contest with Dulwich Hill that ended two goals apiece. It was a game that both teams needed to win as Dulwich Hill are fighting to stay in contention for the finals.

The game was only a little over a minute old when Shannon Hankin put Town ahead with a sweetly-driven swerving drive from the edge of the penalty area to beat a diving Michael Frost in the Hill goal.

A minute later Dulwich Hill were appealing for a penalty although to no avail and from the ensuing corner David Van Dinklage had a shot but struck it straight at Nicholas Jelic in the Mount Druitt goal.

The thunderous opening minutes set the stage for a fast-played opening stanza with bothe teams having shots at goal. Even the visitor’s bench commented that marksman Hankin may well have had a hat-trick within the first 20 minutes!

The latter stages of the first half belonged to the home side and and they were rewarded in the 40th minute when a thumped clearance from Jelic fell invitingly to Van Dinklage who blasted the ball through a forest of defenders to level the scores.

In the 53rd minute Dulwich Hill took the lead when Norman Tome sent his free kick from outside the box sailing over the Town defensive wall to dip just under the crossbar and into the back of the net.

Hats off to the Dulwich Hill defence because they kept a ravenous Mount Druitt attack at bay for long periods of the second half but the dam finally broke two minutes from time when Michael Noro’s speculator from the right side floated over Frost’s outstretched fingertips for the equalizer.

Under 20: Dulwich Hill 5 - Mt Druitt Town Rangers 1