A frenetic second half wasn't enough to break the deadlock between Launceston City and Kingborough, as both sides missed a chance to gain on the ladder leaders with a 0-0 draw on Easter Monday.
It was a tale of two halves at Lightwood Park, but neither the cagey first half or the action-packed second was able to produce a game-winning goal. Instead it was the goalkeepers that stole the show, with both City's Lachlan Clark and Kingborough's Kenneth Perkinson producing some excellent saves to earn a point each for their sides.
The game started slowly, as both sides looked to keep possession and build from the backline. It took almost ten minutes to see the first shot, and even then there were no clear-cut scoring chances in the early stages.
Both teams looked to utilise their target men up front from the outset, with a heavy dose of crosses towards Noah Mies at one end and Danny Cowen at the other. The delivery to Mies left a lot to be desired, while Cowen had a pair of headers on goal fly just wide in the first half.
Perhaps the best chance of the half came, quite fittingly, from an unusual source. Lions defender Noah Smithies-Sharples received the ball at the edge of his defensive area, and with pressure incoming stumbled over the ball. Perkinson came out and collected, but the referee whistled for an illegal back pass and an indirect free kick from just above the penalty spot.
Mies stepped up and hit a solid shot goalward, but with six Lions in a wall on the goal line the ball couldn't find its way through. That summed up the first period as the half time whistle blew, with the effort there for both teams but the execution lacking.
It must have been a good batch of half-time oranges, though, as both teams came out firing after the break. Both keepers were forced to make diving saves inside the first five minutes, and the pace of the game only increased from there.
It was the Lions that looked to have taken the initiative early after the restart, as Keenan Douce continued his excellent form on the wing and set up a barrage of shots from across the park. Chris Downes, James Hall and Cameron Steele all tested the reflexes of Clark in quick succession, but the City keeper was up to the challenge each time.
Just as quickly as Kingborough looked to have gained all the momentum, Launceston had a trio of huge chances in a four-minute span. First, it was Fergus Aitken firing from the edge of the box and forcing a fingertip save from Perkinson. Moments later, a Shane Cartwright header almost snuck past the American gloveman at his feet before he somehow clawed it out from on the goal line.
Even Perkinson's mistakes saw his class shine through. After fumbling and losing the ball on the byline, he found himself faced with two attackers bearing down. Somehow, he managed to dive at their feet and snatch the ball away without fouling, stopping what looked like a certain goal.
The momentum continued to swing as the ball flew from end to end, but both goalkeepers continued to repel every attack that came their way. A double save from Clark denied both Cowen and substitute Phillip Kantzos, and another low stop from Perkinson saw the red-hot Noah Mies remain goalless.
Fittingly, both sides had a chance to steal a win in stoppage time. With 92 minutes on the clock, a brilliant aerial ball found Danny Cowen in space at the top of the area. He pushed inside and looked for the top corner with his shot, but it flew just barely over the crossbar.
As Launceston looked to break on the counter, Jarrod Linger found himself in space on the right and drove down the line with the ball. His cross was blocked but rebounded to the feet of James Hawes, who turned and hit a shot destined for the bottom corner until Perkinson dived low for one last brilliant save.
That proved to be the final play of the game, as both sides were forced to settle for a share of the points. With so many chances squandered, it was surely a result that they would both see as a missed opportunity for more.