Fresh off a mid-week win over Adamstown Rosebud, the Bears were positive about their chances heading in and the conditions on offer certainly gave them the best possible opportunity of producing some attractive attacking football.

The game's initial exchanges proved these hopes were anything but unfounded, as an early incursion from Aaron Niyonkuru drew a save from Nathan Archbold after just 30 seconds of play, while the subsequent Chris Hurley corner curled threateningly towards the back post and created another brief moment of concern.

A golden opportunity fell the way of the hosts in the eighth minute, as a slide rule pass from Cooper Buswell found Moustafa Mohammad right up the centre; the Dutchman closed in on Archbold but his finish lacked precision and finished wide of the target from around 12 yards.

The ball would break promisingly in the ninth for Buswell, who found himself a pocket of space well inside the box, but he opted to stroke a side footed attempt that Archbold dealt with comfortably.

As if the triumvirate of spurned opportunities wasn't enough action for fans to take in through the opening 10 minutes, a clumsy challenge from Callum Bower on Hurley very nearly resulted in a dismissal, but the referee rightly deemed the challenge reckless though unintentional and awarded only a caution.

The frenetic pace of the contest would taper off somewhat over the following 10 minutes of play. That was of course until former Bear, Regan Lundy, launched an innocuous long-range worm-burner that took a wicked deflection off the leg of Zac Sneddon to leave keeper Jacob Zissis stranded and produce an unlikely opener in the 23rd minute.

The Bears were desperately unlucky to go down, having had the weight of chances in their favour to this point. A back post Hurley cross found Jake Brownlow who produced a solid header, but Archbold's athletic fling to his right preserved his side's lead.

It didn't last much longer, though, as Hurley's 30th minute corner created a split second of doubt between the scrambling Archbold and Jackson Frendo, with an own goal the end result, thus squaring the ledger. It was no less than the Bears deserved on the weight of chances created.

The danger of Hurley's set piece deliveries nearly told once again in the 34th minute, as his deep corner found an unmarked Buswell; the latter's header was well placed, looping towards the back post, but the Charlestown defence did well to desperately clear the ball off the line.

Some bustling midfield play from Azzurri skipper Dom Bizzarri saw him dispossess Paul Sichalwe and release Dean Pettit, who executed a 'return to sender' cross; Bizzarri's header floated only narrowly over the bar from six yards.

A studs over the ball challenge from Riley Smith on Sichalwe in the 40th minute was punished with only a caution, despite many in attendance feeling it might have merited a bit more. Niyonkuru was released by Mohammad the following minute, bearing down on Archbold before striking a goalbound effort that was cleared quite miraculously off the line by Bower.

Niyonkuru wanted in on the set piece action too, and his inswinging corner in the first minute of stoppage time found a diving Nathan Morris, who looped the ball only a whisker over the bar. A minute later, the half had drawn to a close, and it had been a stanza of almost total dominance from the slick Bears against the ladder leaders in terms of creativity; crucially, though, the scoreboard was yet to reflect their efforts.

Two minutes into the second half, Brownlow received the ball from Buswell with his back to goal and did well to turn his marker, but his strike lacked venom and was easily gathered by Archbold.

A sumptuous Buswell 'trivela' in the 49th minute released Cooper Sargent, but he was bundled over in the box by Lundy before being able to release a strike. The referee determined that the level of contact did not merit a penalty, however, and play was allowed to continue.

A 53rd minute Morris free kick from just outside the box dipped late but finished just over the crossbar. The attacks showed no signs of abating, as Mohammad found the feet of Niyonkuru in the 57th minute; the Bears attacking midfielder pirouetted deftly around his marker but appeared to slightly dizzy himself in the process as the compass used to orient the strike that ensued was in need of recalibration.

An accidental trip on Kamper by Jacob Melling went unpunished in the 60th minute. Smith won a corner from the same play, which was then delivered by Bizzarri and headed in by Ryan Frame, who had replaced Pettit only five minutes earlier.

A 63rd minute Sichalwe attempt from outside the box was rifled towards goal; it appeared to be handled by Bizzarri but the Bears' appeals were ignored. Lundy came close to producing an improbable third for Azzurri in the 65th, unleashing a sumptuous curling strike from the edge of the box that crashed against the crossbar with Zissis beaten.

Hurley's cross field ball in the 69th minute found the recently introduced Connor Heydon, but the enterprising attacker showed a bit of ring rust in his execution, unleashing a mighty air swing. A 71st minute low Kamper cross saw Mohammad suffer a similar fate, but fortunately Brownlow was on hand to grab the scraps; he showed excellent composure to bring the ball under control and stroke it home in the bottom left corner to level the score at 2-2.

A deep 78th minute cross from Matt Tull appeared to be brought under control by the arm of Jacob Melling, but once more play was waved on; Melling's low cross was a touch too hot for Zissis to handle, and Frame was once again on hand to prod the ball home from close range.

Sargent's dipping knuckleball attempt from 30 yards in the 80th minute was ambitious to say the least, but very nearly paid dividends as it whistled narrowly over the bar with Archbold in difficulty. Two minutes later, substitute Nathan Lozada decided to have a slap from 35, but his low drive fizzed just wide of the right post.

An ugly challenge from Zachary Lloyd in the 88th minute was punished with a second yellow card, though the Bears would only have a couple of minutes to make use of the numerical advantage and their opposition were understandably keen to burn as much of those as possible through canny gamesmanship.

Of the next eight minutes, including stoppage time, the ball was in play for somewhere around two, and the referee called a stop to the contest.

The Bears will have two weeks to pick themselves up, with the bye coming ahead of a Sunday afternoon away trip to Lake Macquarie, where they will have to be far more clinical in front of goal to prevent further missed opportunities scuppering their chances at a finals berth.