Steve Zemek | 19th July 2010

COOROORA and Woombye maintained their places in the McDonald’s Premier League top four after playing a 4-all draw on Saturday night.

The game marked the return to form of Cooroora striker Matt Thompson, who scored a hat-trick in his second game back from a back injury.

Both teams would have been kicking themselves for not picking up the three points available.

However, Woombye (third) and Cooroora (fourth) stayed in the title hunt after fellow top-four fringe dwellers Noosa (second) drew with Beegees and NYU (5th) and Kawana (6th) played a nil-all draw.

Thompson said while his team was ecstatic to have pushed Woombye all the way, it viewed the result as a missed opportunity after leading for a major portion of the match.

“We’re all a little bit disappointed at not getting the three points, considering we were leading through the whole game,” he said yesterday. “Then again, we’re happy with the point. It’s always hard to get anything when you go to Woombye.”

If Thompson was feeling any ill effects of his back injury it did not show in the opening exchanges, as he got his team on the board with two goals inside the opening 20 minutes.

Former Sunshine Coast Football player of the year and Woombye forward Luke Mealing responded in kind, scoring two goals to level things up at half-time.

Thompson responded after the break, putting his team in front again.

The see-sawing nature of the match continued when Luke Alderson evened the ledger in the 68th minute, only for Cooroora to snatch the advantage again in the 80th minute, when the competition’s top goal-scorer, Adam Cross, scored his team’s fourth.

However, just when it looked like the competition newcomer was headed for an important victory, James Bradford levelled things up with just two minutes on the clock.

While a win over the Snakes would have given Cooroora a huge confidence boost five weeks from the finals, it can rightfully claim to be one of the form teams of the competition.