The UC Stars have made the first break to claim top spot as the Capital Futsal League reaches the pointy end of the campaign as they won the top-of-the-table match-up against South Canberra Swift by 10-5 at Daramalan College on Saturday afternoon, moving two points clear at the top.
In a topsy-turvy match, the Stars led 5-0 at the interval and appeared to be dominating the fixture as Michale Rinaudo scored twice, he would later claim a hat-trick, bookending three further goals from the prolific Anthony Giorgi, Jake Wilsener and Jayde James-Ward.
Needing a miracle recovery, Swift began in superb fashion in the second-half with three goals in two minutes from Romeo Jambrek (two) and Alessandro Pena, to reduce the arrears. However, that just appeared to reignite the Stars engine as they hit a goal blitz of their own.
James-Ward notched twice to bring up a treble, with Giorgi and Rinaudo making it 9-3 in the pace of five minutes. Zac Iglesias scored at both ends, after Fernando had pulled one back for Swift, but it was the Stars afternoon.
West Canberra Lightning gained their expected victory over Queanbeyan-Palerang Power as they swamped their opposition at the Queanbeyan Indoor Sports Centre, Ben Basser-Silk netting five, as the Lightning won by 13-0.
Basser-Silk did most of his damage after the break, netting four times in the second-half, as the Power were unable to keep up with the fast-paced Lightning who had led by five at the interval.
Stephen Domenici had got the ball rolling in the first minute, eventually ending with a hat-trick to his name, but the title-chasers were made to wait until the tenth minute before they added to their total as Nicholas Subasic scored the first of his matchday hat-trick.
Daniel Fulton was to make it five on the cusp of the interval, Josh Gaspari also amongst the scorers as the Lightning added another eight to their tally when the teams emerged for the second stanza.
Meanwhile, on a goal-glut of a round, the North Canberra Fire smashed eighteen as they defeated ANU Apex 18-1 in a one-sided contest in which Ibrahim Obeid helped himself to five goals, and Riley Brown, four.
The Fire were always in complete control of the destination of the points from then moment that Brown opened the scoring in the second minute, the goals thereafter coming thick and fast with the Fire having racked up nine by the break.
Captain Brandon Hawker had poked one of those home from close range, and Samuel Thomson had netted two of what was to be a match treble for him. Young Toby McPherson, on his recall to the first-grade team, struck twice, as did Bailey Sorenson, and there was even a goal for goalkeeper Nick Middleton.
Sherab Guo-Yuthok made sure the Apex did not come away with a blank next to their name, with his third of the season, but this was a damaging result in more ways than one for the Apex whose hopes of a top four place seem remote.
RESULTS
QP Power 0 West Canberra Lightning 13 (Domenici 1’, 12’, 23’, Subasic 10’, 33’, 34’, Basser-Silk 10’, 25’, 27’, 36’, 38’, Fulton 20’, Gaspari 33’)
UC Stars 10 (Rinaudo 7’, 18’, 35’, Giorgi 12’, 32’, Wilsener 14’, James-Ward 15’, 30’, 35’, Iglesias 40’) South Canberra Swift 5 (Jambrek 24’, 26’, Pena 25’, Fernando 37’, Iglesias 40’ (og))
North Canberra Fire 18 (Brown 2’, 6’, 16’, 18’, Obeid 4’, 29’, 32’, 38’, 39’, Hawker 5’, Thomson 8’, 15’, 24’, McPherson 10’, 35’ Sorenson 23’, 34’, Middleton 28’) ANU Apex 1 (Guo-Yuthok 25’)
TABLE
| P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | ||
| 1 | UC Stars | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 54 | 28 | +26 | 18 |
| 2 | West Canberra Lightning | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 52 | 31 | +17 | 16 |
| 3 | South Canberra Swift | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 65 | 40 | +25 | 15 |
| 4 | North Canberra Fire | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 44 | 21 | +23 | 10 |
| 5 | ANU Apex | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 21 | 60 | -39 | 3 |
| 6 | QP Power | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 17 | 73 | -56 | 0 |
TOP SCORERS
16: Romeo JAMBREK (Swift)
11: Anthony GIORGI (Stars)
10: Riley BROWN (Fire), Stephen DOMENICI (Lightning)
9: Ben BASSER-SILK (Lightning), Alessandro PENA (Swift), Nicholas SUBASIC (Lightning)
8: Marco GAYER (Swift), Luca MACOR (Stars), Nik POPOVICH (Lightning)
7: Jackson PAESLER (Swift), Patrick SHORE (Swift)
6: Jayde JAMES-WARD (Stars), Ibrahim OBEID (Fire), Nicholas PRATEZINA (Stars), Cohen SMITH (Apex), Michael SOUTHAM (Lightning)
5: FERNANDO (Swift), Phakedi MANDA (Stars), Braulio MELO (Apex), Ryan STRAUB (Swift), Samuel THOMSON (Fire), Own GOALS
4: Josh GASPARI (Lightning), Joe MERMINGIS (Power), Michael RINAUDO (Stars)
3: Harry BILLINGTON (Stars), Elie DARWICH (Fire), Sherab GUO-YUTHOK (Apex), Zac IGLESIAS (Stars), Zac PEELGRANE (Apex), Marko RATHOUSKI (Fire), Doug WOODIWISS (Swift), Ethan YUEN (Fire)
2: Elliot ALBERTO (Fire), Keiren ALLEN (Power), Cale BROWN (Stars), Andrew FOX (Power), Daniel FULTON (Lightning), Maxx GREEN (Fire), Brandon HAWKER (Fire), Alan KAPCHANGA (Power), Toby MCPHERSON (Fire), Nathen MEGIC (Lightning), Bruno MELO (Apex), Pedro PEREIRA (Power), Bailey SORENSON (Fire), Ryan STRAUB (Swift), Jake WILSENER (Stars)
1: Ashley BLOUNT (Lightning), Jonathan CIMINELLI (Fire), Damian COLORADO (Power), Callum COOK (Power), Marcus CRISPE (Swift), Connor FALUSI (Apex), Luca FLOREZ (Fire), Brett FORWARD (Lightning), Ezequiel INOCHEA (Power), William MANALO (Stars), Nick MIDDLETON (Fire), Angus MURRAY (Stars), William NESS (Power), Angelo NGUYEN (Stars), Andre OLIVIERA (Power), Tony SPASESKI (Swift)
