Bolton pulled off a penalty save from Adam Kwasnik in the 90th minute and then denied Dylan Macallister with another outstanding low save two minutes later as a disappointing contest came to life in the final 15 minutes.

Bolton was delighted with his two match-winning contributions after having little to do for most of the match at Bluetongue Stadium.

"I was confident I was going to save it. "I had it in my mind to go that way.  It was just one of those days  - a good birthday present." Bolton said of Kwasnik's penalty.

"I was very happy with the second save. It would have been disappointing to save the penalty and then lose the match with another goal."

"I'm very happy."

Sydney coach Vitezslav Lavicka paid tribute to his shot-stopper after the match.

He said: "Clint was man of the match.

"We were close to a win but close to a loss as well."