UC Stars took a giant step towards finishing top of the table after they turned in an exhilarating display of Futsal to thrash West Canberra Lightning 13-3 at the Australian Institute of Sport.
A devastating opening to the contest saw the UC Stars streak into a scarcely believable seven-goal lead by the ninth minute, a sensational opening in which nearly every shot they hit at the Lightning goal found its way past a bemused and beleaguered Raymond Moon.
Nic Dahl started the rout in the second minute, and he was quickly followed onto the scoresheet by both Luca Macor and Michael Rinaudo, Dahl netting his second of the match in between the pair.
Further goals flowed, Harry Billington, Jayde James-Ward and Macor stretching the lead to seven, before the Lightning recovered. Three superb goals of their own, venomous hits from Nik Popovich, Ben Basser-Silk, and Michael Southam breathed life into the match, a classy finish from Nick Rathjen leaving Stars 8-3 ahead at the break.
Thereafter, the Stars played the game at their own tempo, adding a quintet of goals, three of them in a strong start to the second stanza as Macor completed a hat-trick, James-Ward stabbed home from close range, Billington cracked home a stunner, goalkeeper Jamie-Lee Guo struck a maiden CFL goal, whilst Macor rounded off an incredible evening.
ANU Apex stunned North Canberra Fire with a first-ever win over their opponents in the Capital Futsal League, winning 5-3 at Queanbeyan Indoor Sports Centre, less than seven days after suffering an 18-1 reverse at the hands of the same opposition.
Bruno Melo struck a hat-trick for the Apex, who led 1-0 at the interval, leaving the Fire with plenty to do, after second-half goals from Braulio Melo, Bruno Melo, and Clyde Holo had the University side well ahead.
There was a nervous tension amongst the Apex team though as three goals in rapid fire succession from Elie Darwich, who netted twice either side of a goal from Ibrahim Obeid, reduced the deficit to manageable proportions with seconds remaining.
However, chasing an equaliser, the Fire were caught on the break and Bruno Melo completed his treble to secure what might prove to be a vitally important victory in the race for the top four.
A goal two minutes from tome from Joshua Hedditch saw Queanbeyan-Palerang Power claim their first win of the season, and only their fifth in CFL history, as they defeated ANU Apex 4-3 in a close-fought encounter at Fadden Futsal Centre.
Apex took the lead in the contest early on with a competent and composed finish from Zac Peelgrane, the ANU player advancing on goal and deciding to take his finish early, placing a delightful effort past the Power goalkeeper Perry Field.
The Power turned the match on its head though after drawing themselves level through a lovely turn and finish from Joe Mermingis. A time-out allowed Power to address the issue of finding a way through the Apex defence and, off the back of that, Power scored twice in quick succession.
Benji Keomanivong prodded home at the far post to put the Power ahead, before Dylan Deep-Jones manufactured space to create room for a shot and drilled an effort low and hard past Callum Baran to have Queanbyean-Palerang 3-1 ahead at half-time.
Power needed goalkeeper Perry Field to be in top form in the second-half but, after Mermingis had seen his penalty saved by Callum Baran, Field could do nothing to stop Peelgrane cracking in two efforts within seconds of each other to level the scores. However, Power was to win it late on.
Seventeen goals, a flurry of activity, a feisty undercurrent and sheer entertainment were the order of the day as North Canberra Fire defeated South Canberra Swift 9-8 in a thriller at Fadden
A rollercoaster of a first-half ended with six-goals shared in a scintillating match that was as physical as it was skillful. The Swift led in the third minute as Romeo Jambrek squeezed a shot home from close range for his seventeenth goal of the season, only for Riley Brown to level three minutes later.
Samuel Thomson gave Fire the lead three minutes after that, only for Doug Woodiwiss to get on the end of a fast counterattack to make it 2-2. The action didn’t abate, and the hardworking Ibrahim Obeid restored the Fire lead, but less than a minute later it was all-square again.
Jambrek leathered an indirect free-kick at goal that deflected in off Elliott Alberto to make sure the teams were even-pegging as they moved into the half-time break. There was little let-up in the second stanza as the goals continued to flow.
Thomson and Elie Darwich put Fire two ahead, before the teams’ traded goals, James and Fernando scoring for Swift with Alberto and Brandon Hawker replaying in kind for North. Marco Gayer and Alessandro Pena then struck in quick succession to level the scores at 7-7 and set up a dramatic finale.
Gayer did net again for Swift, but it was Brown who was to have the crucial say, netting either side of that goal, the second being the matchwinner in the final minute.
RESULTS
ROUND 1
Friday 29 November
ANU Apex 5 (Bruno Melo 2’, 27’, 40’, Braulio Melo 25’, Holo 32’) North Canberra Fire 3 (Darwich 36’, 40’, Obeid 37’)
West Canberra Lightning 3 (Popovich 13’, Basser-Silk 15’, Southam 17’) UC Stars 13 (Dahl 2’, 3’, Macor 2’, 9’, 23’, 40’, Rinaudo 3’, Billington 5’, 30’, James-Ward 6’, 24’, Rathjen 19’, Guo 39’)
ROUND 9
Sunday 1 December
ANU Apex 3 (Peelgrane 2’, 35’, 35’) QP Power 4 (Mermingis 13’, Keomanivong 15’, Deep-Jones 16’, Hedditch 38’)
Monday 2 December
South Canberra Swift 8 (Jambrek 3’, 29’, Woodiwiss 10’, Alberto 14’ (og), Fernando 31’, Gayer 35’, 38’, Pena 36’) North Canberra Fire 9 (Brown 6’, 38’, 39’, Thomson 9’, 27’, Obeid 13’, Darwich 29’, Alberto 30’, Hawker 32’)
TABLE
| P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | ||
| 1 | UC Stars | 8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 67 | 31 | +36 | 21 |
| 2 | West Canberra Lightning | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 53 | 44 | +7 | 16 |
| 3 | South Canberra Swift | 9 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 73 | 49 | +24 | 15 |
| 4 | North Canberra Fire | 9 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 56 | 34 | +22 | 13 |
| 5 | ANU Apex | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 29 | 67 | -38 | 6 |
| 6 | QP Power | 8 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 21 | 76 | -55 | 3 |
TOP SCORERS
18: Romeo JAMBREK (Swift)
13: Riley BROWN (Fire)
12: Luca MACOR (Stars)
11: Anthony GIORGI (Stars)
10: Ben BASSER-SILK (Lightning), Stephen DOMENICI (Lightning), Marco GAYER (Swift), Alessandro PENA (Swift)
9: Nik POPOVICH (Lightning), Nicholas SUBASIC (Lightning)
8: Jayde JAMES-WARD (Stars), Ibrahim OBEID (Fire)
7: Jackson PAESLER (Swift), Patrick SHORE (Swift), Michael SOUTHAM (Lightning), Samuel THOMSON (Fire)
6: Elie DARWICH (Fire), Braulio MELO (Apex), FERNANDO (Swift), Zac PEELGRANE (Apex), Nicholas PRATEZINA (Stars), Cohen SMITH (Apex), Own GOALS
5: Harry BILLINGTON (Stars), Phakedi MANDA (Stars), Bruno MELO (Apex), Joe MERMINGIS (Power), Michael RINAUDO (Stars), Ryan STRAUB (Swift)
4: Josh GASPARI (Lightning), Doug WOODIWISS (Swift)
3: Elliot ALBERTO (Fire), Sherab GUO-YUTHOK (Apex), Brandon HAWKER (Fire), Zac IGLESIAS (Stars), Marko RATHOUSKI (Fire), Ethan YUEN (Fire)
2: Keiren ALLEN (Power), Cale BROWN (Stars), Nic DAHL (Stars), Andrew FOX (Power), Daniel FULTON (Lightning), Maxx GREEN (Fire), Alan KAPCHANGA (Power), Toby MCPHERSON (Fire), Nathen MEGIC (Lightning), 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), Dylan DEEP-JONES (Power), Connor FALUSI (Apex), Luca FLOREZ (Fire), Brett FORWARD (Lightning), Jamie-Lee GUO (Stars), Joshua HEDDITCH (Power), Clyde HOLO (Apex), Ezequiel INOCHEA (Power), Benji KEOMANIVONG (Power), William MANALO (Stars), Nick MIDDLETON (Fire), Angus MURRAY (Stars), William NESS (Power), Angelo NGUYEN (Stars), Andre OLIVIERA (Power), Nick RATHJEN (Stars), Tony SPASESKI (Swift)
