GOLD Coast United came from behind to secure a point in their first home game of the season with a Chris Harold equaliser in the 52nd minute denying Melbourne Victory a win on the road.

United fell behind to Mate Dugandzic's 17th minute opener, but rallied after the break to uphold their undefeated record after three rounds of the National Youth League.

The blustery conditions were not conducive to flowing football and it was the visitors who settled earliest and came closest to opening the scoring in the 10th minute. Stephen Hatzikostas' cross deceived United defender Ben Wearing, who sliced his attempted clearance onto his own post with United 'keeper Jerrad Tyson beaten.

Melbourne made their superior possession pay and took the lead in the 17th minute when Mate Dugandzic raced onto a piercing through ball that split the United defence, before prodding calmly past Tyson from just inside the box.

Gold Coast were struggling to get control of the game and failed to test Mitchell Langerak in the Victory goal before the break.

But with the wind in their backs the home side started the second period brightly and Chris Harold almost forced an equaliser with a strong run behind the Victory defence, but his cross was cleared before it reached a team-mate.

Moments later Victory almost doubled their lead when Kliment Taseki's low free-kick sneaked through the crowded penalty area and rebounded off the upright before being cleared by the United rearguard.

Seven minutes into the second period United levelled the scores. Ben Halloran, a half-time substitute for Richard Greer, stormed down the left hand side leaving defenders in his wake and crossed for Chris Harold who made no mistake from close range to register his third goal of the season.

The equaliser injected confidence into the Gold Coast youngsters and they almost pressed home their advantage when James Brown found space on the edge of the box, but his attempted lob sailed just over the bar.

As the clock ticked down both sides went close with long-range efforts. Simon Tolli saw his shot clear the crossbar for the visitors, and United's Bobby Russell watched his 25-metre thunderbolt fly just wide.

United Youth Coach Mike Mulvey was honest in his post-match summary, saying his troops were somewhat fortunate to escape with a point.

"I think we got out of jail a bit today and we were slow to get going in the first half," Mulvey said.

"We needed to move the ball quicker and maintain possession and we were way to pedestrian for 45 minutes.

"The changes we made at half-time made a difference and the lads responded well to what we talked about in the dressing room. We scored when we had good possession, but I thought Melbourne came back into it again later in the second half, so in the end we're happy with a draw."

Gold Coast United Youth:

1.Jerrad TYSON (gk), 2.Steven TOPALOVIC (13.Callum HARE 60'), 3.James BROWN, 5.Ben WEARING, 6.Richard GREER (11.Ben HALLORAN 46') 7.Zachary ANDERSON, 8.Steven LUSTICA (c), 9.Chris HAROLD, 10.Koh SATAKE, 14.Joshua BRILLANTE, 15.Reuban WAY (12.Bobby RUSSELL 60').

Unused subs: 20.Tim ANDERSON (gk)

Yellow cards: none

Red cards: none

Melbourne Victory Youth:

20.Mitchell LANGERAK (gk), 2.Matthew FOSCHINI 4.Petar FRANJIC, 6.Evan BERGER, 7.Aziz BEHICH (c), 9.Matthew DEMO (12.Simon TOLLI 60'), 8.Stephen HATZIKOSTAS, 10.Kliment TASESKI 11.Antonio LA VERDE (3.Bradley NORTON 55'), 14.Mate DUGANDZIC, 15.Craig SWEENEY (5.Diogo FERREIRA 46').

Unused subs: 1.Sebastian MATTEI (gk)

Yellow cards: none

Red cards: none