Canberra Olympic 5 (Robbie CATTANACH 49’, Stephen DOMENICI 28’ 71’, Joshua GULEVSKI 5’ 58’) def. Tigers FC 2 (Daniel BARAC 32’, Nicholas ABOT 69’)
Canberra Olympic
1. Angelo KONSTANTINOU, 2. Tim BOBALAS, 4. Daniel COLBERTALDO, 5. Phil YARNOLD, 6. Jeremy HABTEMARIAM, 10. Stephen DOMENICI, 11. Robbie CATTANACH, 15. Tom MCLACHLAN, 16. Joshua GULEVSKI, 17. Nicholas BOBALAS, 23. Nathan MEGIC
SUBS: 8. Bernard RENE, 18. Jordan TSEKENIS, Adrian MACOR, 9. Michael REEVE, 20. Jack PETTIT
Tigers FC
1. Jack MILLER, 2. Alan GASTON, 3. Stefan TODOROSKY, 4. Bradley MOORE, 5. Julian BORGNA, 6. Tony SPASESKI, 7. Goran JOSIFOVSKI, 8. Milan POPOVICH, 9. Daniel BARAC, 10. Mark SHIELDS, 11. Nicholas ABOT,
SUBS: 13. Bruno dos Santos RAMOS, 14. Michael KITA, 15. Alexandru URICARU, GK. Francis BANGWENI
Braces from Joshua Gulevski and Stephen Domenici and a long range goal from Robbie Cattanach were enough for Canberra Olympic, as they defeated Tigers FC 5-2 in the Capital Football Charity Shield that raised money for CanTeen Australia.
Gulevski and Domenici scored once in each half, with Daniel Barac and Nicholas Abot both scoring for Tigers in a goal-fest at Gungahlin enclosed oval.
Olympic almost had the perfect start as a poor touch at the back from Tigers left Domenici with a great chance to open the scoring, but the forward fired just wide of Jack Miller’s goal.
But it didn’t take long for last season’s FFA Cup semi-finalists to make good on their pressure, as Gulevski was released in behind the defence and sent a deft chip over the top of Miller to take the lead after five minutes.
Tigers sat deep as Olympic looked to press forward, but struggled to break when Olympic did turn the ball over.
With Tigers pressed back, Olympic continued to pressure, and Alan Gaston was forced into a fantastic tackle to deny Tom McLachlan deep in Tigers’ territory.
Olympic doubled their lead after 28 minutes as Domenici scored against his old club, firing home after Gulevski slotted him in behind the defence.
Tigers hit back only four minutes later however as Daniel Barac rounded Angelo Konstantinou in goal to bring them back into the game.
Despite a few chances for both sides in the remaining minutes, the teams headed into the break with Olympic leading 2-1.
Photo Credit: Dimitri Yianoulakis Photography
Francis Bangweni replaced Miller in goals at the break and was in the thick of the action almost immediately when Olympic extended their lead. The goalkeeper rushed off his line to clear a ball but it fell straight to Cattanach in the middle of the park, and his first-time drive from way out found the back of the net.
Tigers looked to create more than they had in the first half, sitting higher up the pitch, but struggled to find the final pass in the attacking third and they fell further behind after 58 minutes as Daniel Colbertaldo sent Gulevski in behind to notch his second goal.
With both sides feeling the effects of a busy match, the game slowed down with 30 minutes to go however Tigers had one last goal in them still, and Nicholas Abot’s finish was worthy of celebration.
A Tigers’ corner spilled over towards the back of the box, and near the baseline, Abot’s cheeky aerial back heel looped over Konstantinou in goal to cut the lead back to two goals.
Domenici had the final say for the match however, as he slotted home his second just two minutes later to seal the final score of 5-2.
As part of the post-match presentation, it was announce that Canberra Olympic, Tigers FC and Capital Football would all make a $500 donation to CanTeen Australia, adding $1500 to the gate receipts and program sales from the night.
A big thank you to everyone that attended for your support of CanTeen and football.
