Instead, the day in question was Whittlesea United’s Marcus Day, the time was 7.50pm and the only breaking being done was in the metaphorical sense, inflicted on the hearts of Goulburn Valley Suns in their Victorian Premier League Two fixture.
The Suns were set to clinch a hard-fought 2-1 win until United converted a corner in the 94th minute to salvage a point while stealing two away from the Orangemen at Epping Stadium.
There is an idea that sport is theatre.
And in the Suns’ case, Day played the Phantom of the Opera role as he ghosted in to head home a late dagger and drop the curtain on a match Craig Carley felt his side was well in control of.
“It probably sounds a bit like a broken record at the moment; the boys were unbelievable in open play, created plenty of chances and their performance deserved more than the point we ended up with,” Carley said.
“But again, it goes back to us needing to be clinical and a bit more ruthless in both boxes.
“I spoke to the boys about aggression and desire — and I don’t mean aggression as in going out and smashing someone, I mean it as in attacking the ball and not letting your marker get there before you.
“Unfortunately we switched off twice and it’s ultimately cost us.”
In football, goals win games and despite leading Whittlesea 17-5 on the shots on target category, the final score tells a story of one side’s efficiency versus another’s squander.
The Suns enjoyed a throng of chances in the first 20 minutes, even having a goal rubbed out for offside.
But as soon as the clock ticked into minute 21, Whittlesea pounced.
The host took the lead with a rare venture forward as a cross into the box was bobbled home by Koray Cekic.
Five minutes later, the Suns’ reply arrived as towering centre half Mohammed Algazaly chose the right time to score his first senior goal of the campaign.
The Suns continued to throw the kitchen sink at the host throughout the remainder of the first half and during the bulk of the second and, with 20 minutes to go, Carley’s side had its second.
Callum Schorah’s set piece delivery curled wickedly into the box, bouncing off two United heads before nestling in the net for an own goal.
The Suns had to hunker down and weather a Whittlesea storm for 10 minutes as the host surged forward in search of an equaliser and, up the other end, a breakaway almost resulted in a fantastic volley — though Brandon Giaccherini’s effort whistled just over the bar.
All the Suns had to do was hold on.
But football can be cruel and it was ready to unleash its most devilish twist on the Orangemen.
Whittlesea skipper Day crashed home a header from a corner in added time, punishing the Suns for not converting more of their earlier chances.
Carley, while understandably gutted to have dropped points in such a manner, has high hopes his side is on the right course at the halfway mark of the season.
“On Saturday we came up against a keeper who was man of the match; you’re going to have games like that, it’s just about trusting the process and believing in what we’re doing,” he said.
“I’m a firm believer that results will come and it won’t be long until we give someone a real good touch up.
“If we keep playing like we did on Saturday, we’ll win a lot more games than we lose, that’s for sure.”
One area of the park the Suns are looking to bolster is in the forward line.
Schorah and Giaccherini have contributed five goals each from the midfield and wing, but without a true presence up top, Carley said he would be exploring options to bring in some firepower during the mid-season transfer window.
“Our aim this season is to get promoted; I believe we’ve assembled a squad good enough for that,” he said.
“We’ll certainly look to reinforce in the window — it’s no secret that we probably lack an out an out goal-scorer at the moment.
“But promotion, for us, we’ve got the opportunity to go through the playoffs as well and again, I’m probably being a bit biased here, there are not many teams I believe we’ve come across so far that have been better than us.
“I would back our boys in any game we go up against.”
