A last-gasp Dave Burnage penalty salvaged Wakehurst a 2-2 draw with Manly Vale at Lionel Watts on Saturday afternoon.
The visitors found themselves with some early breathing room after Will Backman registered a brace in the opening 20 minutes.
Wakehurst toiled hard for a way back into the contest and finally made the breakthrough with 20 minutes to play as Nathan Ord crashed the ball in off the underside of the crossbar.
Frank Chiarella’s side continued to push on in search of an equaliser and were rewarded with a spot kick deep into stoppage time.
With what was to be the last kick of the game, Burnage stood up and calmly slotted home his penalty into the bottom left corner.
Post-game, Manly Vale coach Michael Yarnold took the positives out of a frustrating result.
“Today we changed our shape and put a few new players in different positions and I think it worked really well,” he said.
“Also playing on a pitch of this quality suits us better because we’re a ball playing team.
“I think we were definitely more threatening in the first half in the second half we didn’t really create as many chances and I think that gave confidence to Wakehurst to get back into the game.
“For us this season is about trying to cement what is our playing style and the nucleus of the playing group, because we brought in 23 new players this year, and we know we’re a much better team than the table might suggest.”
In other results, Pittwater enjoyed a 2-0 win over Curl Curl and Brookvale beat Harbord 3-1.
Strikers returned to the winner’s circle with a 2-0 win over Narrabeen while Seaforth accounted for Belrose Terry-Hills by the same scoreline and Saints cruised to a 7-1 thrashing of Mosman.
