GÖTENBORG, SWEDEN - Tighe Dombrowski was handed his first start at central midfield as Sirius battled to a highly entertaining 2-2 draw against Örgryte in Göteborg on Tuesday evening.

The American built on last week's 45-minute cameo at central midfield as he started and finished the game there to help lead the Sirius comeback. Dombrowski continued his iron man streak of appearing in every minute of Superettan action this season.

After a fast start to the season, Sirius has slowed down a bit lately and they entered Tuesday night's contest winless in three. To make matters worse, an unlucky string of injuries meant that regular midfielders Pierre Galloa and Mani Tourang missed out along with forward Olle Kullinger.

However, the string of injuries meant Sirius had to reshuffle their lineup and Tighe Dombrowski slid from his left back position to his favored central midfield role. The former Earthquake midfielder is certainly no stranger to the position and was active throughout his 90 minutes.

"I was happy with the central role and with being able to buzz around and win balls and be a link for the team," Dombrowski told American Soccer Daily post-match. "I really think I covered a lot of ground."

As both teams play attractive attacking styles, it was no surprise to see chances start flowing early. Örgryte had their first three minutes in when Dombrowski got back to support his left back replacement and force the ball out for a corner. The resulting corner was met by a bullet header from Alexander Mellqvist that fell into the grateful hands of goalkeeper Jon Rytterbro.

Sirius had their first clear chance only minutes later after a nice combination between Marcus Palmqvist and Andreas Eriksson set up Daniel Hoch for a right-footed effort that he wasted by blasting wide of the near post.

Örgryte had an excellent chance to take the lead in the sixth minute following a free kick that was first sent on goal by Alexandros Pappas. The rebound fell directly to Boyd Mwila, whose well-hit effort was saved well by a busy Rytterbro.

Örgryte loan forward Ken Fagerberg was then denied a free path on goal by a saving tackle from captain Gustaf Segerström.

At the other end, Sirius forward Hoch did well to bundle his way through the box and put himself in great shooting position, but instead sent a cross through the box that came to nothing.

The hosts took the lead in the 20th minute after a picture perfect attack down the right side. Fullback Pappos was released down the flank with plenty of time and space, and his inswinging cross found the head of wide open right midfielder Mellqvist, who sent a header into the upper corner of the net.

Sirius refused to be let down after the goal and found themselves on even terms a minute later thanks to a class goal from Hoch.

Dombrowski won a ball in midfield and shuffled it over to Eriksson, who played a nice through ball into Hoch's path. The striker showed no signs of a recent dry spell in front of net and one-timed a beautiful chip from outside the box to just inside the far upper corner.

The third goal in a 10-minute span came at the half hour when Örgryte capitalized on some sloppy Sirius defending. A cross from the left was flicked into the path of Sierra Leone prospect Samuel Barlay, who made no mistake as he met the ball with a nicely timed left-footed volley from 15 yards that went in off the gloves of Rytterbro.

In the 35th minute, Dombrowski attempted to notch his second wonder goal of the season, but a 30-yard shot was easily collected by Örgryte goalkeeper Dick Last. The Wisconsin native stayed active, and in the 42nd minute, he made an overlapping run up the left flank and sent in a cross that was cleared out for a corner that the keeper could easily collect.

Sirius continued pressing and won a free kick 35 yards out after the lively Eriksson was dragged down. Kim Skoglund took the free kick and Sirius ended up with a number of chances, including a deflected Palmqvist shot from Dombrowski's lay-off and a Segerström header, but Örgryte weathered the storm and went into halftime with a 2-1 lead.

"It was certainly back and forth in the first half and both teams offered good attacking football", Sirius coach Per Millqvist told ASD post match. "However, I certainly had a clump in my throat with all those chances."

The second half opened a bit tighter and more physical than the first. Sirius had a very successful night with their offside trap, which frustrated forward Fagerberg, who was whistled offside several times on the night.

His frustration built and after a pair of flags, he took his anger out by first bowling over Segerström and then making an even clumsier challenge that saw him floor Dombrowski. Despite the awkwardness of the tackles, the ref refused to blow the whistle.

In the 54th minute, Sirius countered again through the excellent Eriksson, who was playing as a forward despite often starting as an offensive midfielder. Eriksson found Dombrowski in the middle of the field and the midfielder's first-time chip was a bit too far for the chasing Palmqvist.

The referee continued to let play go on and Dombrowski got into the physical action, showing no signs of a lingering ankle injury as he waded into a physical challenge near midfield that saw a number of kicks thrown, but still no whistle. Örgryte's quick winger Mwila was left in a heap after the scuffle and the Göteborg side brought on Mentor Zhubi.

Dombrowski continued his offensive involvement in the 60th minute when he ran onto a ball laid into his path, but blasted frustratingly wide of goal know he could have done better.

Sirius made their first sub of the game when they brought on Christopher Lundin for a tiring Palmqvist. Unfortunately for Lundin, his first action only seconds after entering was to lunge into a late tackle and find his way into the referee's book.

In the 68th minute, Sirius found a well-deserved equalizer. Dombrowski made another run to the left flank, and after drawing two defenders, found Eriksson just inside the box.

The Swede wiggled his way free with some excellent dribbling and sent the ball wide to Daniel Pereira. The left back sent in a cross to goal poacher extraordinary Hoch, whose diving header slid inside the far post to the delight of the visiting supporters.

As a near repeat of Sirius' immediate reply in the first half, Örgryte had three chances in the next two minutes to retake their lead.

After confusion between Segerström and Rytterbro nearly resulted in an own goal, Ivo Skijor had only the goalkeeper to beat, but saw his initial shot kicked away and his rebound denied as well.

The game started to open up as the teams tired. In the 78th minute, Dombrowski orchestrated a great chance in search of the game winner. He fed a low pass to the feet of Eriksson, who superbly held off several players with his back to goal.

Dombrowski got the ball back from the makeshift forward and his one-touch slanting pass found Skoglund all alone inside the box on the right. However, the recipient could only send a worm burner wide of goal.

In the 84th minute, Fagersberg was finally able to beat the offside trap and was nearly through on goal when he was tackled from behind by defender Jonas Lundmark. The striker stumbled to keep his footing, but was unable to catch up to the ball as the home fans yelled for the red. Perhaps a bit luckily, Lundmark escaped with a yellow and the resulting free kick was knocked to safety.

Dombrowski's former University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee teammate Antou Jallow replaced Eriksson in the 86th minute and his speed helped spark a number of late chances for the visitors.

In the first minute of extra time, Dombrowski was presented the chance to be the hero of the night, but his well-struck free kick flew a few feet over.

Jallow helped win another free kick only a minute later when he burst past an Örgryte defender and was pulled down just as was attempting to round the last man. Hoch's free kick from 22 yards out could have won the game, but the hard drive around the wall was beat away to signal the end of an exciting game.

"We put in a good performance," Dombrowski told ASD after the game. "We wanted the win, but at least we got a point. We did a good job picking our spots to attack as they really put us on our heels."

Despite the draw, Sirius coach Pär Millqvist was also pleased with the effort. "I was satisfied with the game," he told ASD. "Compared to our last game against Bunkeflo, this feels like a different world."

"We were trailing twice and came back twice, so I am very pleased. Above all, it is how we fought for the ball tonight. We were effective in moving the ball around attractively as well."

Sirius remain in fourth place with their next game coming at Jönköpings Södra IF on Friday.

Scoring
ÖRG - Alexander Mellqvist 2 (Alexandros Pappas) 20'
IKS - Daniel Hoch 10 (Andreas Eriksson) 22'
ÖRG - Samuel Barlay 5 (Alexander Mellqvist) 30'
IKS - Daniel Hoch 11 (Daniel Pereira) 68'

Line-ups
IKS - Jon Rytterbro; Linus Smedjegården, Daniel Pereira (Daniel Fernberg 90+), Tighe Dombrowski, Jonas Lundmark, Daniel Hoch, Kim Skoglund, Fredrik Olsson, Marcus Palmqvist (Christopher Lundin 63'), Andreas Eriksson (Antouman Jallow 86'), Gustaf Segerström

ÖRG - Dick Last; Jukka Sauso, Marcus Dahlin, Martin Strömberg, Alexander Mellqvist, Samuel Barlay (Christian Lindström 46'), Alexandros Pappas, Boyd Mwila (Mentor Zhubi 58'), Ken Fagerberg, Ivo Skiljo (Henrik Lawenius 79'), Magnus Källander