The Western Sydney Wanderers youth side was involved in an exciting midweek match against the academy side of Japanese giants Kashima Antlers, with the entertaining match finishing in a 4-4 draw.
In what was a fantastic opportunity for players from the Western Sydney youth side to play alongside players from the U20s and U18s teams, they put on a quality attacking performance and held their own against technically sound opposition.
The Wanderers got off to the perfect start when they scored in less than a minute, when Farah Koko and Ariath Piol combined well, with the latter squaring to Marcus Younis who tapped home from close range.
The away side scored just minutes later though, with a clean passing move and a quality finish from inside the box.
The game slowly began to settle as the teams looked to win the midfield battle, but the Wanderers hit the front again in the 24th minute when Edmun Haddad unleashed a fierce strike from distance that flew into the top corner.
The Antlers hit back again 10 minutes later with an effort of their own from the edge of the area, but the Wanderers would go into the break ahead, as Koko latched onto a perfectly weighted pass and finished coolly past the keeper.
Both sides made wholesale changes at half-time with the Wanderers operating with an almost brand new starting eleven, and Kashima soon scored two goals in eight minutes to take the lead after 64 minutes.
But the Wanderers showed great spirit and determination to level the scores once again through defender Aden Green. Despite being marked by two players, he managed to leap high to head home a corner at the far post.
Both sides had chances to score a winner, but there would be no more goals in this gripping match, with a draw a fair result in a great night of football all round.
