Brindabella Blues have announced themselves as yet another promotion contender as they headlined another remarkable weekend in the Capital Premier League by defeating Queanbeyan City by the odd-goal in seven in a thriller at the High Street ground in Queanbeyan.
Nikolas Blaskovic scored twice in the final twenty-minutes to secure the Blues the points that, even though they are sixth on the congested league table, puts them within five points of the league leaders and joining a clutch of teams who will be dreaming of top spot and promotion to the elite tier.
Henry Wilks had put Brindabella ahead on ten minutes, but it looked like City would turn it around as Blaskovic put through his own goal before Niko Abot bagged his sixth of the season to edge the home side into the lead. Curtis Schaeffer levelled matters in the 58th minute, before Blaskovic made it 4-2.
Hussein Fureje pulled the teams to terms a minute after Blaskovic scored his first, but Blaskovic had the last word with the match-winner with eleven minutes of regulation time remaining.
Wagga City Wanderers continued their rise up to the table with a third win in succession as they defeated Belconnen United 2-0 at Gissing Oval to move second in the league standings, only one points behind their Riverina rivals Yoogali SC in what is shaping up to be one huge battle for promotion.
In a tight and feisty affair that featured seven yellow cards, there was little to choose between the teams until Nashwan Sulaiman broke the deadlock in the 66th minute as the Wanderers finally found a way through.
Belconnen responded well and will be disappointed they were unable to draw level and were sent home with nothing as Golden Boot leader Morris Kadzola scored for the ninth time this season to seal the win. Wagga are also the division’s leading scorers and are proving they are fighting for top spot.
Current league leader Yoogali SC were forced to come from behind to earn a point from a visit to ANU South Oval as the clash against ANU FC ended all-square at 1-1. A seventh goal of the season from the mercurial Darren Bailey ensured Yoogali would head back to Griffith with a tangible reward and the leadership of the CPL.
The University team, who sit in fourth on twelve points, and well within touching distance of top spot, were in front with twenty-one minutes to play as Rowan Peterkin, their Australia Cup Qualifying leading scorer, opened his account for the 2023 league campaign.
Bailey though has been in superb form this term, and the man who netted the 2022 National Premier League Grand Final matchwinner, made sure he dragged his charges back into the contest with the equaliser.
Meanwhile, Canberra Juventus claimed a fourth point of the season as they drew 2-2 with White Eagles in an entertaining encounter at Ainslie but were denied a second victory of the campaign as the Eagles snuck a stoppage time equaliser through Toni Angelkoski to earn a share or the spoils.
Zac Lawrence has been a shining light in a difficult season for Eagles, and he scored for the seventh time in 2023 to put the visitors ahead in the sixth minute. For a long period of play that appeared to be the defining moment, but Juventus continued to discover their groove in the CPL and turned the match around in the second half.
Federico Proia managed to level the ledger in the 61st minute, his first goal at this level, before Nathan Duck struck for the fifth time this season, and the third game in succession, as Juventus took the lead.
Juventus hearts were broken though two minutes into time added on as Angelkoski came to the rescue for the Eagles to steal a point from the jaws of defeat.
RESULTS
ROUND 8
Saturday 27 May
Wagga City Wanderers 2 (Sulaiman 66’, Kadzola 78’) Belconnen United 0
Queanbeyan City 3 (Blaskovic 22’ (og), Abot 50’, Fureje 63’) Brindabella Blues 4 (Wilks 10’, Schaeffer 58’, Blaskovic 62’, 79’)
Canberra Juventus 2 (Proia 61’, Duck 74’) White Eagles 2 (Lawrence 6’, Angelkoski 90+2’)
ANU FC 1 (Peterkin 69’) Yoogali SC 1 (Bailey 82’)
TABLE
| P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | ||
| 1 | Yoogali SC | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 22 | 12 | +10 | 16 |
| 2 | Wagga City Wanderers | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 25 | 14 | +11 | 15 |
| 3 | Queanbeyan City | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 17 | 14 | +3 | 14 |
| 4 | ANU FC | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 21 | 16 | +5 | 12 |
| 5 | Belconnen United | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 14 | 15 | -1 | 11 |
| 6 | Brindabella Blues | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 12 | 17 | -5 | 11 |
| 7 | White Eagles | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 15 | 21 | -6 | 6 |
| 8 | Canberra Juventus | 8 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 11 | 27 | -16 | 4 |
TOP SCORERS
9 Morris KADZOLA (Wagga City Wanderers)
7 Darren BAILEY (Yoogali SC), Zac LAWRENCE (White Eagles)
6 Niko ABOT (Queanbeyan City)
5 Nathan DUCK (Canberra Juventus), Nicholas HOPE (ANU FC), Own GOALS
4 Jake PLOENGES (Wagga City Wanderers), Curtis SCHAEFFER (Brindabella Blues), Rory SPIERS (ANU FC), Henry WILKS (Brindabella Blues)
3 Joshua DE ROSSI (Yoogali SC), Mason DONADEL (Yoogali SC), Steven KRESKAS (White Eagles), Joe PREECE (Yoogali SC), Nashwan SULAIMAN (Wagga City Wanderers)
2 Gabriel AYUEL (Queanbeyan City), Nikolas BLASKOVIC (Brindabella Blues), Jack GIBSON (ANU FC), Hussein FUREJE (Queanbeyan City), Monteagh Ryan GULEVSKI (Queanbeyan City), Abraham KEMP (Belconnen United), Tim LOPEZ (ANU FC), David MCCARRON (Belconnen United), Goran MILUTINOVIC (White Eagles), Maxwell PREST (Wagga City Wanderers), Hayden TUNNEY (Belconnen United), Luke VALLONE (Belconnen United), Thomas YONGAI (Wagga City Wanderers)
1 Tyler ALLEN (Wagga City Wanderers), Hassan ALNUWAYSIR (ANU FC), Toni ANGELKOSKI (White Eagles), Aleksander BELJANSKI (White Eagles), Harry BILLINGTON (Belconnen United), Adam BROOKS (Canberra Juventus), David CARDER (Belconnen United), Robbie CATTANACH (Belconnen United), Abderrahim DELLAHI (Queanbeyan City), Reuben DONADEL (Yoogali SC), Chaise DONETTO (Wagga City Wanderers), William DWIGHT (Canberra Juventus), GRACE (ANU FC), Oliver GRIST (ANU FC), Leo HADLEY (ANU FC), Andre JUGOVAC (Canberra Juventus), Christian JUNNA (Queanbeyan City), Roshan LAMICHHANE (White Eagles), Jacob LEONARD (Brindabella Blues), Andrew MANLEY (ANU FC), Nathan MATTHEWS (Canberra Juventus), Zac MAYBURY (Belconnen United), Van NGUYEN (Canberra Juventus), Rowan PETERKIN (ANU FC), Michael PICCOLO (Queanbeyan City), Romain PINTO (Yoogali SC), Federico PROIA (Canberra Juventus), Samuel RACITI (Yoogali SC), Dejan SANTRAC (White Eagles), Kolby SEARS (Yoogali SC), Zac STEELE (Wagga City Wanderers), Nikola TRAJKOVSKI (Queanbeyan City), Dustin WELLS (Belconnen United), Jamie WARD (Brindabella Blues), Jan WOJNA (ANU FC)
