UC Stars proved too strong for the North Canberra Fire in their semi-final at Daramalan College as they scored a dozen times in a 12-4 success to make back-to-back Grand Final showdowns.
Fire took the lead after five minutes of an exhilarating semi-final, breaking quickly through Ibrahim Obeid who teed up Bailey Sorenson for a simple tap-in at the far post, a goal very much against the run of play, and one which appeared to shake the League Champions.
In response UC struck the woodwork twice through Nick Pratezina, the first an effort pushed onto to the post by the hand of Wilson Howden, the second a shot that cannoned off the base of the same upright. Almost immediately Riley Brown was denied at the other end by a smart save from Jamie-Lee Guo.
UC finally levelled in the 16th minute, Jayde James-Ward finding space from the angle to sweep a majestic finish past Howden and into the net and suddenly the Stars were on fire, the goal precipitating a four-goal blitz in two minutes.
Pratezina poked in almost straight from the re-start, before Nick Rathjen struck a goal from halfway, a low effort that deceived everyone on its way into the back of the net. James-Ward then capitalised on the break, bursting away to finish with aplomb, but Brown pulled one back close to the half-time break, finishing from a rebound to make it 4-2 at half-time.
Fire began the second-half superbly, Alberto hitting the post with a delightful flick, before Samuel Thomson saw a penalty saved by Guo. And they were made to pat as Stars netted a glorious fifth. Rathjen found Anthony Giorgi who’s backheel released Michael Rinaudo to square for Harry Billington to tap home.
Rinaudo got one himself in the 28th minute, just after Brown reduced the arrears, later completing a hat-trick, but as Fire went looking for a way back and playing fifth player, they left themselves exposed to the counter and the open goal into which Dahl, Rathjen, Manalo, and Giorgi (twice) all took advantage.
West Canberra Lightning emerged victorious from an eleven-goal thriller as they defeated a heartbroken South Canberra Swift 6-5 in an epic semi-final.
A fast-paced, breathless, opening to the match saw both teams create shooting opportunities from distance, denied by smothering defence and excellent defence that limited clearcut attempts on goal. When they did fashion such chances the two goalkeepers, Josh Freeman for Swift and Jackson White-Brettell for Lightning were in top-class form.
However, with the two leading scorers in the league in action, Romeo Jambrek and Stephen Domenici had fifty between them at kick-off, there was certain to be goals, but it was Ryan Straub who went closest in the opening 12 minutes hitting the post.
Domenici saw a fierce drive palmed magnificently over the bar by Freeman, whilst Fulton witnessed his crunching shot from wide crash back off the bar. It took a world class strike to separate the teams though, and Ben Basser-Silk provided it seconds from the break, arrowing an Exocet of a hit across Freeman and into the top corner.
That narrow advantage gave the Lightning the impetus at the interval, but the Swift had fashioned enough openings of their own to still have faith of a turnaround. And yet it was Lightning who struck first within 35 seconds as Domenici pounced on a loose ball from close range.
Incredibly, after such a long wait for goal there were three in no time as Jambrek reduced the arrears with a fine finish. Suddenly, the floodgates were open as Doug Woodiwiss rammed home the equaliser, before Nik Popovich danced across the face of goal to score with an improbable finish.
Then it was the Swift’s turn as Alessandro Pena equalised with a low shot and the men in green went in front when White-Brettell could only turn home a Patrick Shore cross into his own goal. Straub extended the Swift lead to 5-3, only for Megic to make it 5-4 shortly after an immediate Lightning timeout.
And there were more twists and turns to come as Basser-Silk swung the pendulum back in favour of Lightning from where they were to emerge victorious.
RESULTS
UC Stars 12 (James-Ward 16’, 18’, Pratezina 17’, Rathjen 17’, 34’, Billington 22’, Rinaudo 28’, 36’ Dahl 33’, Manalo 35’, Giorgi 38’, 40’) North Canberra Fire 4 (Sorenson 5’, Brown 19’, 23’, 35’)
West Canberra Lightning 6 (Basser-Silk 20’, 38’, 38’, Domenici 21’, Popovich 26’, Megic 34’) South Canberra Swift 5 (Jambrek 21’, Woodiwiss 25’, Pena 27’, White-Brettell 27’ (og), Straub 33’)
TOP SCORERS
27: Stephen DOMENICI (Lightning)
25: Romeo JAMBREK (Swift)
21: Anthony GIORGI (Stars), Luca MACOR (Stars)
17: Riley BROWN (Fire)
13: Ben BASSER-SILK (Lightning)
11: Marco GAYER (Swift), Jayde JAMES-WARD (Stars), Alessandro PENA (Swift)
10: Braulio MELO (Apex), Nik POPOVICH (Lightning), Nicholas SUBASIC (Lightning)
9: Daniel FULTON (Lightning), Nathen MEGIC (Lightning), Ibrahim OBEID (Fire), Michael RINAUDO (Stars)
8: Harry BILLINGTON (Stars), Josh GASPARI (Lightning), Bruno MELO (Apex), Michael SOUTHAM (Lightning), Own GOALS
7: Nic DAHL (Stars), Jackson PAESLER (Swift), Zac PEELGRANE (Apex), Nicholas PRATEZINA (Stars), Patrick SHORE (Swift), Cohen SMITH (Apex), Ryan STRAUB (Swift), Samuel THOMSON (Fire)
6: Elie DARWICH (Fire), FERNANDO (Swift), Nick RATHJEN (Stars)
5: Phakedi MANDA (Stars), Joe MERMINGIS (Power), Doug WOODIWISS (Swift)
4: Bailey SORENSON (Fire)
3: Elliot ALBERTO (Fire), Ashley BLOUNT (Lightning), Sherab GUO-YUTHOK (Apex), Brandon HAWKER (Fire), Zac IGLESIAS (Stars), Alan KAPCHANGA (Power), Marko RATHOUSKI (Fire), Ethan YUEN (Fire)
2: Keiren ALLEN (Power), Cale BROWN (Stars), Andrew FOX (Power), Maxx GREEN (Fire), Ezequiel INOCHEA (Power), Bradley MALONE (Fire), William MANALO (Stars), Toby MCPHERSON (Fire), Pedro PEREIRA (Power), Ryan STRAUB (Swift), Jake WILSENER (Stars)
1: Jonathan CIMINELLI (Fire), Damian COLORADO (Power), Callum COOK (Power), Marcus CRISPE (Swift), Dylan DEEP-JONES (Power), Connor FALUSI (Apex), Jason FARRELL (Lightning), Luca FLOREZ (Fire), Brett FORWARD (Lightning), Jamie-Lee GUO (Stars), Joshua HEDDITCH (Power), Clyde HOLO (Apex), Benji KEOMANIVONG (Power), Nick MIDDLETON (Fire), Angus MURRAY (Stars), Mithun NAVEN (Power), William NESS (Power), Angelo NGUYEN (Stars), Andre OLIVIERA (Power), Jeremy SALEH (Swift), Tony SPASESKI (Swift)
