The Yoogali SC juggernaut rolled back into gear following their surprise setback in Round 14 as they battered visiting ANU FC 5-0 at Solar Mad Stadium in Griffith, a result that extended their lead at the top to nine points ahead of potentially an era-defining visit to Queanbeyan City in Round 16.
Once more it was the inspirational Darren Bailey who led the way for Yoogali, the combative Scotsman scoring twice in the opening seventeen minutes to move onto a superb tally of fifteen goals for the season and a three-goal advantage in the race for the Capital League Golden Boot award.
Bailey wasn’t the only Yoogali player to continue their wonderful scoring season as, shortly after ANU FC defender Jan Wojna put through his own goal, Joe Preece found the target for the ninth time this campaign. Midfielder Joshua De Rossi grabbed his eleventh of the year with eleven minutes to go as Yoogali routed the University club on an impeccable afternoon.
Nearest challengers for Yoogali, Queanbeyan City, dropped off the pace as they were held to an entertaining 1-1 draw by Brindabella Blues who, for the second week in succession secured a brilliant result against a team challenging for promotion to the National Premier League.
City were forced to come from behind to rescue a point at Ipan Park in Calwell after Henry Wilks opened the scoring after only three minutes for a resurgent Blues who, much like in the 2022 season, appear to be finding their form at exactly the right time of the season to push for the finals.
Queanbeyan equalised with three minutes left of the first-half as Nikola Trajkovski struck his third goal of the season, but the visitors were unable to grab a winner which leaves them trailing Yoogali who have eased clear. The Blues moved to within three points of the top four with the hard-earned point.
A fourth goal of the season for Liam Rae helped Belconnen United to a vital 1-0 win over Wagga City Wanderers, a result that throws a spanner in the works for the Riverina club’s lofty ambitions, leaving them a dozen points off top-spot and looking unlikely to be able to reel in Yoogali.
Rae’s goal was extremely important for the Blue Devils, who find themselves a point behind ANU FC, two behind Wagga City Wanderers and only five behind second-placed Queanbeyan City as they hope to make the top four and play finals football.
The afternoon was soured somewhat for Belconnen though as they ended the fixture with only ten men as striker David McCarron was sent off in the final minute of the contest, however it mattered little in terms of the result.
At the other end of the table a stoppage time equaliser from Ohio Asikhia earned White Eagles a share of the spoils as their match with Canberra Juventus ended with four goals shared in a 2-2 draw.
In a game that could have gone either way it was Eagles who took the lead after 27 minutes as Josh Hickman put the visiting team in front. Juventus didn’t take long to draw level though, Luca Novosel drawing them on terms just nine minutes later, before Fahad Ramadhan gave the home team the lead early in the second-half.
The Eagles battled for a response, yet Juventus looked to have held firm until Asikhia found a way through to rescue a point.
RESULTS
ROUND 15
Saturday 22 July
Belconnen United 1 (Rae 70’) Wagga City Wanderers 0
Brindabella Blues 1 (Wilks 3’) Queanbeyan City 1 (Trajkovski 42’)
Canberra Juventus 2 (Novosel 36’, Ramadhan 47’) White Eagles 2 (Hickman 27’, Asikhia 90’)
Yoogali SC 5 (Bailey 6’, 17’, Wojna 52’ (og), Preece 62’, De Rossi 79’) ANU FC 0
TABLE
| P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | ||
| 1 | Yoogali SC | 15 | 11 | 1 | 3 | 49 | 21 | +28 | 34 |
| 2 | Queanbeyan City | 14 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 27 | 24 | +3 | 25 |
| 3 | Wagga City Wanderers | 14 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 37 | 26 | +11 | 22 |
| 4 | ANU FC | 15 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 32 | 31 | +1 | 21 |
| 5 | Belconnen United | 15 | 6 | 2 | 7 | 24 | 25 | -1 | 20 |
| 6 | Brindabella Blues | 15 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 20 | 27 | -7 | 18 |
| 7 | Canberra Juventus | 15 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 22 | 42 | -20 | 12 |
| 8 | White Eagles | 15 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 21 | 35 | -14 | 11 |
TOP SCORERS
15 Darren BAILEY (Yoogali SC)
12 Morris KADZOLA (Wagga City Wanderers)
11 Joshua DE ROSSI (Yoogali SC), Jake PLOENGES (Wagga City Wanderers)
10 Niko ABOT (Queanbeyan City)
9 Joe PREECE (Yoogali SC)
8 Nathan DUCK (Canberra Juventus), Zac LAWRENCE (White Eagles), Own GOALS
7 Curtis SCHAEFFER (Brindabella Blues), Rory SPIERS (ANU FC)
5 Nicholas HOPE (ANU FC), Hayden TUNNEY (Belconnen United), Henry WILKS (Brindabella Blues)
4 Abderrahim DELLAHI (Queanbeyan City), Mason DONADEL (Yoogali SC), Andrew MANLEY (ANU FC), Liam RAE (Belconnen United)
3 Reuben DONADEL (Yoogali SC), Abraham KEMP (Belconnen United), Steven KRESKAS (White Eagles), Tim LOPEZ (ANU FC), Nashwan SULAIMAN (Wagga City Wanderers), Nikola TRAJKOVSKI (Queanbeyan City), Thomas YONGAI (Wagga City Wanderers)
2 Toni ANGELKOSKI (White Eagles), Gabriel AYUEL (Queanbeyan City), Nikolas BLASKOVIC (Brindabella Blues), Adam BROOKS (Canberra Juventus), Chaise DONETTO (Wagga City Wanderers), Jack GIBSON (ANU FC), Hussein FUREJE (Queanbeyan City), Ryan GULEVSKI (Queanbeyan City), Andre JUGOVAC (Canberra Juventus), Nathan MATTHEWS (Canberra Juventus), David MCCARRON (Belconnen United), Goran MILUTINOVIC (White Eagles), Max MOTTL (ANU FC), Luca NOVOSEL (Canberra Juventus), Maxwell PREST (Wagga City Wanderers), Federico PROIA (Canberra Juventus), Luke VALLONE (Belconnen United), Jamie WARD (Brindabella Blues)
1 Tyler ALLEN (Wagga City Wanderers), Hassan ALNUWAYSIR (ANU FC), Ohio ASIKHIA (White Eagles), Aleksander BELJANSKI (White Eagles), Harry BILLINGTON (Belconnen United), Jordan CACHIA (White Eagles), Cuneyt CAGLAR (White Eagles), David CARDER (Belconnen United), Robbie CATTANACH (Belconnen United), Charlie D’ADDARIO (Belconnen United), Chase DEANS (ANU FC), Jayden DEIGHAN-SMITH (Brindabella Blues), William DWIGHT (Canberra Juventus), Monteagh GRACE (ANU FC), Oliver GRIST (ANU FC), Nahuel GUERRERO (Queanbeyan City), David GURNEY (Brindabella Blues), Leo HADLEY (ANU FC), Josh HICKMAN (White Eagles), Christian JUNNA (Queanbeyan City), Roshan LAMICHHANE (White Eagles), Jacob LEONARD (Brindabella Blues), Zac MAYBURY (Belconnen United), Daniel MUNOZ (Brindabella Blues), Tim NGUYEN (Belconnen United), Van NGUYEN (Canberra Juventus), Rowan PETERKIN (ANU FC), Michael PICCOLO (Queanbeyan City), Romain PINTO (Yoogali SC), Samuel RACITI (Yoogali SC), Fahad RAMADHAN (Canberra Juventus), Robert RIMMER (Yoogali SC), Dejan SANTRAC (White Eagles), Kolby SEARS (Yoogali SC), Zac STEELE (Wagga City Wanderers), Dustin WELLS (Belconnen United), Jan WOJNA (ANU FC)
