Rapture turned to ruin away at CB Smith Reserve to Brunswick Juventus on Saturday night as the home side cancelled out the Suns’ lead with two goals on either side of the 90-minute mark to rip the rug from under the Orangemen.
The dubious nature of the referee’s decisions made it an even harder pill to swallow.
Firstly, a potential free-kick the Suns’ way was waved in the lead up to Brunswick’s late equaliser before coach Craig Carley was left seething when Juventus was awarded a soft penalty in added time.
Juventus’ Max Batchelor converted and, with the whistle arriving minutes later, that was that.
The controversial calls soured a box office game that was kicked off by Callum Schorah, a man who more than lives up to his reputation.
A silky move down the left seven minutes in culminated in Schorah’s cool finish from Sean Grant’s cutback, drawing a great roar from the Suns’ bench before CB Smith Reserve fell deathly silent.
From then on Carley’s men had a game plan: press like crazy and frustrate the opposition.
The Suns’ vehement running and constant nipping at Brunswick’s heels produced two chances late on in the first half, with Laywi Niyonkuru almost nicking the ball off the toe of the host’s keeper.
Minutes later, Brandon Giaccherini charged through on goal but saw his shot float over the crossbar, keeping the Orangemen’s lead at 1-0 heading into the sheds.
A superb first-half showing was stained 10 minutes into the second period as the Suns failed to deal with a Juventus set piece, swept in at the back post by target man Terence Carter.
A string of stunning saves by Suns keeper Niki Kitabatake kept his side in the game as Brunswick shoved back with a slew of shots in an attempt to go ahead.
However, Schorah had another trick up his sleeve.
Suns substitutes Cailyn Trask and Declan Kinnane combined in the 89th minute with the latter streaking through on a wide open break, beating his man and squaring the ball to Schorah who finished with aplomb for his fifth goal in three games.
No less than 60 seconds later, the ball was back in the Orangemen’s net.
Juventus surged forward from the restart and Batchelor ghosted in to level the pegging despite a push on Matt Lelliott ignored by the official during the build up.
The instant the Suns’ malaise compounded once the game ticked into injury time.
Batchelor was awarded a penalty for an alleged foul by Zac Balaburov and, though it appeared the Juventus man tripped over the ball instead, the call was simple — a spot kick.
He converted straight down the middle and crushed the Suns’ spirit in one fell swoop, turning ‘‘what could’ve been’’ for the Orangemen into a damning conclusion.
Carley’s side must now pick itself up for Saturday’s tie against Altona City at McIvor Reserve.
