Yoogali SC were left heartbroken by a stoppage time concession to Monaro Panthers on the weekend, forced to settle for a point from a 1-1 draw from their visit to Stryda Park, after a 94th minute home leveller.
An early screamer from Mason Donadel gave Yoogali SC a great boost of motivation, the forward crashing home a thunderous goal from distance.
Despite the great grind to keep the lead, stoppage time saw Michael De Paoli concede to a strong header from the Monaro skipper Dylan Deep-Jones. An unfortunate turn of events right at the end of the game meaning Yoogali only walked away with one point.
“Look, it’s disappointing to concede in the 90th minute in any game,” Yoogali Captain Darren Bailey said. “But in a game where their keeper made three, four saves, and ours made one, you know, it’s the fine line and unfortunately, we switched off for the last five and gave them field position and they took full advantage of it.”
After being on a rough run losing their last few games, it was most certainly a surprise to see Yoogali right up there challenging the title contenders. They seemed to be switched on down at Stryda Park Stadium.
“After the last five, six weeks, you know, our performances haven’t been great at all,” Bailey admitted. “So, to step up today and show that we can perform at the highest level, for that 87 to 90 minutes and then obviously in stoppage time, to concede, it shows that we can compete and, it’s just the switching off at the end that costs us.
“We’ve shown that we can compete, so we need to take it into the next week and do the exact same thing and show that we’re the team that they were chasing today instead of the other way round. I think going forward, we must use this as the benchmark of turning the season around.”
Having lost some players in the June transfer window, Yoogali Head Coach Luke Santolin introduced new signings Daler Tokhirov and Hayden Hollinger, and both looked to be a sound choice given their debut in Round 12.
“We were chasing at the end of the transfer window when a couple of the boys left, with three days to go before the window closed, and you know, Luke did a great job of signing two boys and they’ve come in and done a great job tonight,” Bailey said.
“They trained on Thursday and then they came and showed everyone that they’ve got the quality to play.”
Whilst Bailey was talking about quality from the new boys who have come in at the last minute and given a strong first impression, players like Mason Donadel can’t be forgotten about, with his early finish to find the back of the net over Heath Ilitch pushing them into the lead.
It was a goal that earned the approval of his skipper.
“Super mat,” bailey said of the goal. “He’s always got it in him. It’s something that you expect from all your boys to be able to hit from outside the box, to connect like that, and just shows you that when we can, we can get them goals.”
Bailey, an ex-Panther himself, has great respect to the club and its people, enjoying playing back at the Stryda Park under the floodlights, crowd cheering, all whilst manning the armband for this strong Yoogali side.
“It’s always a great turnout,” he commented. “You know, they’re a great club. I spent a really good year here and they’ve always got a good fan base. So, to come here and to nearly take all three, you know, it’s a great moment that we obviously at least get to leave with a point.”
Bailey, proud of the team’s performance, was disappointed to concede deep into stoppage time, but Yoogali have their sights firmly set on their recovery this weekend when they return to Canberra to tackle Gungahlin united at Gungahlin Enclosed Oval.\
Words: Billy Ansell
