Yoogali SC have moved to within a point of the Capital Premier League Championship crown, such is their massively superior goal difference, and with that promotion to the National Premier League following a 3-1 away win over Canberra Juventus at Ainslie on a gloriously sunny afternoon in the National Capital.
They were made to work for the win though by a Juventus team that is improving weekly and stunned the title chasers by taking the lead through the prolific Nathan Duck in the 14th minute, the Juve striker netting his thirteenth goal of the season to open the scoring.
By half-time Yoogali were ahead though. Mohammed Khanoussi equalised five minutes before the break, and then Dom Galluzzo put the visitors ahead just four minutes later, a crucial momentum shift. A third, bagged by Mason Donadel past the hour, secured the win and put the club within touching distance of the top-flight.
Queanbeyan City will keep Yoogali honest to the end however as they claimed another three points to take the race into the final weekend with a 3-0 victory over a struggling Wagga City Wanderers whose own hopes for finals football are on a precarious knife-edge.
Unsurprisingly, it was their Argentinean talisman who was at it again, opening the scoring six minutes before the break to put City ahead, a lead that was doubled in stoppage time at the end of the first stanza from Abderrahim Dellahi.
Abot sealed the win and kept Queanbeyan in the hunt for the league crown, by netting his nineteenth goal of the campaign as the second ticked away in time added on at the conclusion of the contest. A victory that might be critical should Yoogali slip-up in Round 21.
Brindabella Blues usual late season surge continued apace as they won a five-goal thriller by the odd-goal against ANU FC at Ipan Park. Jayden Deighan-Smith was the hero, hammering in a first-half hat-trick to push the Blues into third place and leave their destiny in their own hands heading into the final round.
Deighan-Smith opened the scoring for the home team after twenty minutes, only for Chase Deans to square matters for ANU just six minutes later. Parity lasted barely four minutes though as Deighan-Smith restored the Brindabella advantage.
The Blues in-form man completed a memorable treble two minutes into added on time as the Blues led 3-1 at the break, a result they were not to let slide despite a late penalty from Sachin Sirkari giving the University team a glimmer of hope of a draw. The defeat meant ANU FC dropped out of the top four.
The University team were leapfrogged by Belconnen United who put in a sensational second-half display by romping to a 5-0 win over a lethargic White Eagles who have now gone over 450 minutes without scoring a goal.
Eagles were in the game until they conceded the opener, a simply wonderful hit from Dustin Wells, a goal that broke the spirit and the heart of the home side who capitulated under a relentless Blue Devils onslaught thereafter.
David McCarron took full advantage of the Eagles demise, the Irish striker helping himself to a seven-minute hat-trick to rip the heart out of the home side and leave the visitors in the top four. Charlie D’Addario rounded off the scoring late on to leave Belconnen on the cusp of finals football.
RESULTS
ROUND 20
Saturday 26 August
White Eagles 0 Belconnen United 5 (Wells 55’, McCarron 65’, 70’, 72’, D’Addario 81’)
Canberra Juventus 1 (Duck 14’) Yoogali SC 3 (Khanoussi 40’, Galluzzo 44’, M. Donadel 62’)
Queanbeyan City 3 (Abot 39’, 90+4’, Dellahi 45+1’) Wagga City Wanderers 0
Brindabella Blues 3 (Deighan-Smith 20’, 30’, 45+2’) ANU FC 2 (Deans 26’, Sirkari 85’ (p))
TABLE
| P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | ||
| 1 | Yoogali SC | 20 | 14 | 2 | 4 | 57 | 26 | +31 | 42 |
| 2 | Queanbeyan City | 19 | 11 | 4 | 4 | 39 | 31 | +8 | 37 |
| 3 | Brindabella Blues | 20 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 37 | 31 | +6 | 31 |
| 4 | Belconnen United | 20 | 9 | 3 | 8 | 37 | 30 | +7 | 30 |
| 5 | ANU FC | 20 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 46 | 39 | +7 | 28 |
| 6 | Wagga City Wanderers | 19 | 7 | 3 | 9 | 42 | 39 | +3 | 24 |
| 7 | Canberra Juventus | 20 | 4 | 3 | 13 | 27 | 62 | -35 | 15 |
| 8 | White Eagles | 20 | 2 | 6 | 12 | 21 | 47 | -26 | 12 |
TOP SCORERS
19 Niko ABOT (Queanbeyan City)
17 Darren BAILEY (Yoogali SC)
14 Jake PLOENGES (Wagga City Wanderers)
13 Nathan DUCK (Canberra Juventus), Morris KADZOLA (Wagga City Wanderers)
11 Joshua DE ROSSI (Yoogali SC), Joe PREECE (Yoogali SC), Rory SPIERS (ANU FC), Own GOALS
10 Curtis SCHAEFFER (Brindabella Blues)
8 Zac LAWRENCE (White Eagles), Henry WILKS (Brindabella Blues)
6 Jayden DEIGHAN-SMITH (Brindabella Blues), Abderrahim DELLAHI (Queanbeyan City), David MCCARRON (Belconnen United), Hayden TUNNEY (Belconnen United)
5 Mason DONADEL (Yoogali SC), Nicholas HOPE (ANU FC), Sachin SIRKARI (ANU FC)
4 Abraham KEMP (Belconnen United), Andrew MANLEY (ANU FC), Liam RAE (Belconnen United), Jamie WARD (Brindabella Blues), Thomas YONGAI (Wagga City Wanderers)
3 Gabriel AYUEL (Queanbeyan City), Chase DEANS (ANU FC), Reuben DONADEL (Yoogali SC), Steven KRESKAS (White Eagles), Tim LOPEZ (ANU FC), Rowan PETERKIN (ANU FC), Nashwan SULAIMAN (Wagga City Wanderers), Nikola TRAJKOVSKI (Queanbeyan City), Dustin WELLS (Belconnen United)
2 Hassan ALNUWAYSIR (ANU FC), Toni ANGELKOSKI (White Eagles), Nikolas BLASKOVIC (Brindabella Blues), Adam BROOKS (Canberra Juventus), Charlie D’ADDARIO (Belconnen United), Chaise DONETTO (Wagga City Wanderers), Jack GIBSON (ANU FC), Hussein FUREJE (Queanbeyan City), Ryan GULEVSKI (Queanbeyan City), Andre JUGOVAC (Canberra Juventus), Mohammed KHANOUSSI (Yoogali SC), Nathan MATTHEWS (Canberra Juventus), Goran MILUTINOVIC (White Eagles), Max MOTTL (ANU FC), Daniel MUNOZ (Brindabella Blues), Luca NOVOSEL (Canberra Juventus), Maxwell PREST (Wagga City Wanderers), Federico PROIA (Canberra Juventus), Luke VALLONE (Belconnen United)
1 Tyler ALLEN (Wagga City Wanderers), Ohio ASIKHIA (White Eagles), Aleksander BELJANSKI (White Eagles), Harry BILLINGTON (Belconnen United), Phil BORGEAUD (Belconnen United), Jordan CACHIA (White Eagles), Cuneyt CAGLAR (White Eagles), David CARDER (Belconnen United), Robbie CATTANACH (Belconnen United), Bailey DICKINSON (Belconnen United), William DWIGHT (Canberra Juventus), Dom GALLUZZO (Yoogali SC), Monteagh GRACE (ANU FC), Oliver GRIST (ANU FC), Nahuel GUERRERO (Queanbeyan City), David GURNEY (Brindabella Blues), Leo HADLEY (ANU FC), Josh HICKMAN (White Eagles), Jayde JAMES-WARD (Belconnen United), Christian JUNNA (Queanbeyan City), Abraham KEMP (Belconnen United), Roshan LAMICHHANE (White Eagles), Jacob LEONARD (Brindabella Blues), Zac MAYBURY (Belconnen United), Tim NGUYEN (Belconnen United), Van NGUYEN (Canberra Juventus), 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), Riley WILLIAMS (Brindabella Blues), Jan WOJNA (ANU FC)
