Macarthur FC have passed another litmus test with a character-filled A-League Men's away draw against Adelaide United, Bulls coach Mile Sterjovski says.
Substitute Chris Ikonomidis equalised in the second half just 20 seconds after stepping on to Adelaide's Coopers Stadium on Friday night to give the Bulls a precious point.
Ikonomidis slid in to square the scores after Reds midfielder Jonny Yull's first-half strike temporarily lifted Adelaide to second on the ladder.
But by fulltime, the shared spoils left Macarthur (24 points) in third spot, ahead of fourth-placed Adelaide (23).
Both are within touching distance of pacesetters Auckland (25) and Newcastle (24), who hold second position on goal difference.
Sterjovski said they were satisfied taking a point home from Adelaide after a fixture played in searing heat.
"Adelaide is a very good team - they're a team that is in good form at the moment, and playing at home," he said.
"I'm very happy with the point that we got.
"The second half was much better for us and we could have possibly even won the match with the chances we had."
Sterjovski lauded the Bulls' attention to detail for an away game long considered among the most difficult in the league.
"We know they have a good young team, they attack quite a lot, they're quite fluid in their movements," he said.
"I felt like we were really prepared for it.
"Yes, they were dangerous at times, don't get me wrong. But I felt like we dealt with it most of the time, we did pretty well."
The Bulls host struggling Perth next Friday with former Glory frontman Ikonomidis finding form after a knee injury.
"It was an instant impact," Stervjoski said of the striker's goal with his first touch against the Reds.
"Chris has worked hard coming back from his injury.
"He set up a goal last week and he scored this week, so he's contributions are doing well for us. He's getting better with each week."
The Reds host Newcastle next Sunday after a performance against the Bulls which offered coach Airton Andrioli encouragement.
"We had a very good game in the first half," Andrioli said.
"We controlled the game the way we wanted to play - on the front foot - and created chances.
"The second half we started off really well ... then all of a sudden started to give a few balls away, tried difficult things in some moments.
"We're disappointed, obviously we wanted to win the match but they are not an easy team to play."
