Yoogali SC went four points clear at the top of the Capital Premier League with a comprehensive 5-1 hammering of Queanbeyan City at their fortress Griffith venue on a sunny Sunday afternoon.
The promotion-chasers were in scintillating form from the off against their visitors with Joe Preece opening his account after only nine minutes of action and, when Joshua De Rossi made it two before half-time, Yoogali were in total control of the fixture and Queanbeyan were chasing the game.
Preece increased the lead with his second early in the second half before Niko Abot netted for the seventh time in 2023 to give City a glimmer of a chance of clawing their way back into the encounter
That dream lasted two minutes as Preece completed a brilliant hat-trick, Mason Donadel wrapping it all up with eight minutes remaining.
ANU FC came from 2-0 down to claim a 3-2 success over the in-form Wagga City Wanderers enabling the University club to move up into title contention in the Capital Premier League thanks to a brace of second half goals from striker Andrew Manley.
It looked as if the Wanderers would be heading to the summit of the table ahead of the Sunday afternoon clash between Yoogali and Queanbeyan as they struck twice, once either side of the half-time whistle, both goals coming from Jake Ploenges as he moved onto half-a-dozen for the campaign.
ANU though were only two adrift for nine minutes as Max Mottl reduced the arrears and, within five minutes the visitors were level as Manley equalised. And Manley was to win it for ANU with eight minutes remaining as he banged in his second of the afternoon to make sure the points headed back to Canberra.
Canberra Juventus recorded a second win of the season in some style as they too overturned a deficit to stun Belconnen United at McKellar Park, running out 3-1 winners on a magnificent afternoon for the CPL newcomers, arguably their biggest result since their return to this level.
The Blue Devils went ahead just before the half-hour as their new signing, Liam Rae picked up from Tigers FC in the transfer window, scored on debut to put the home side into a deserved lead. But it was a lead that was to last for a mere six minutes as Juventus began to turn the game on its head.
Nathan Matthews drew the terms back on terms in the 35th minute, his second goal of the competition for Juventus, a goal that meant that the two teams would head into the changing rooms all-square at 1-1 and with the game very much in the balance.
It was Juventus who went in front just past the hour as Nathan Duck rammed home his sixth goal of the season and, when Federico Proia increased the visitors lead to 3-1 with nineteen minutes remaining, there was no way back for the Blue Devils who slipped to sixth on the league table.
An eighth goal of the season from Zac Lawrence wasn’t enough for a new-look White Eagles as they drew 1-1 with Brindabella Blues at Ipan Park in Calwell, a result that left the Blues just outside the top four and continued the Eagles yo-yo start to the campaign, their four draws frustrating for their supporters.
Lawrence put the Eagles ahead after thirteen minutes, but it was a lead that only lasted for seventeen minutes as the Blues, who have recovered from a slow start to the season, drew level on the half-hour mark as David Gurney equalised.
Neither team could find a winner in the second-half meaning that a share of the spoils was the ultimate outcome. The Blues moved onto a dozen points, on the cusp of the top four, whilst the Eagles are five points further adrift on seven.
RESULTS
ROUND 9
Saturday 10 June
Wagga City Wanderers 2 (Ploenges 20’, 52’) ANU FC 3 (Mottl 61’, Manley 66’, 82’)
Belconnen United 1 (Rae 29’) Canberra Juventus 3 (Matthews 35’, Duck 61’, Proia 71’)
Brindabella Blues 1 (Gurney 30’) White Eagles 1 (Lawrence 13’)
Sunday 11 June
Yoogali SC 5 (Preece 9’, 50’, 71’, De Rossi 36’, M. Donadel 82’) Queanbeyan City 1 (Abot 69’)
TABLE
| P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | ||
| 1 | Yoogali SC | 9 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 27 | 13 | +14 | 19 |
| 2 | Wagga City Wanderers | 9 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 27 | 17 | +10 | 15 |
| 3 | ANU FC | 9 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 24 | 18 | +6 | 15 |
| 4 | Queanbeyan City | 9 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 18 | 19 | -1 | 14 |
| 5 | Brindabella Blues | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 13 | 18 | -5 | 12 |
| 6 | Belconnen United | 9 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 15 | 18 | -3 | 11 |
| 7 | White Eagles | 9 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 16 | 22 | -6 | 7 |
| 8 | Canberra Juventus | 9 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 14 | 28 | -14 | 7 |
TOP SCORERS
9 Morris KADZOLA (Wagga City Wanderers)
8 Zac LAWRENCE (White Eagles)
7 Niko ABOT (Queanbeyan City), Darren BAILEY (Yoogali SC)
6 Nathan DUCK (Canberra Juventus), Jake PLOENGES (Wagga City Wanderers), Joe PREECE (Yoogali SC)
5 Nicholas HOPE (ANU FC), Own GOALS
4 Joshua DE ROSSI (Yoogali SC), Mason DONADEL (Yoogali SC), Curtis SCHAEFFER (Brindabella Blues), Rory SPIERS (ANU FC), Henry WILKS (Brindabella Blues)
3 Steven KRESKAS (White Eagles), Andrew MANLEY (ANU FC), 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), Nathan MATTHEWS (Canberra Juventus), David MCCARRON (Belconnen United), Goran MILUTINOVIC (White Eagles), Maxwell PREST (Wagga City Wanderers), Federico PROIA (Canberra Juventus), 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), David GURNEY (Brindabella Blues), Leo HADLEY (ANU FC), Andre JUGOVAC (Canberra Juventus), Christian JUNNA (Queanbeyan City), Roshan LAMICHHANE (White Eagles), Jacob LEONARD (Brindabella Blues), Zac MAYBURY (Belconnen United), Max MOTTL (ANU FC), Van NGUYEN (Canberra Juventus), Rowan PETERKIN (ANU FC), Michael PICCOLO (Queanbeyan City), Romain PINTO (Yoogali SC), Liam RAE (Belconnen United), 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)
