A double from central defender Ollie Witrzens secured Brindabella Blues a vital 2-1 victory over Belconnen United at McKellar Park, moving the visiting team into third place, trailing the Blue Devils by merely goal difference.
Brindabella were staring down the barrel of a defeat, which would have been their third of the campaign after Jayde James-Ward had put Belconnen ahead just after the half-time break, but the home side were unable to shake off a tenacious Blues outfit and close the gap on Queanbeyan City at the top.
Witrzens equalised with twelve minutes to play to bring his team back on to terms, and the same play was able to swing the game completely on its head by turning home his second of the match just four minutes later to put Brindabella in front and leave Belconnen chasing the game.
The Blue Devils fought hard, upping their game and the tempo to try and get back all-square, but Brindabella held firm. The Blues often start the season slowly, before picking up later in the campaign, but this year appears to be different and, with only two losses to their name, they are very much in contention.
Perhaps though, the big winners were Queanbeyan City who have a five-point lead and are fifteen goals better off than second-placed Belconnen after the top three had all played nine matches.
The fixture scheduled between White Eagles and ANU FC was postponed on Wednesday evening, for the second time this season, due to a waterlogged pitch at Woden Park.
RESULTS
ROUND 1
Wednesday 5 June
White Eagles v ANU FC – Match Postponed
Thursday 6 June
Belconnen United 1 (James-Ward 49’) Brindabella Blues 2 (Witrzens 78’, 82’)
TABLE
| P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | ||
| 1 | Queanbeyan City | 9 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 36 | 6 | +30 | 22 |
| 2 | Belconnen United | 9 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 25 | 10 | +15 | 17 |
| 3 | Brindabella Blues | 9 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 20 | 17 | +3 | 17 |
| 4 | ANU FC | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 23 | 13 | +10 | 16 |
| 5 | Wagga City Wanderers | 9 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 24 | 23 | +1 | 15 |
| 6 | Canberra Juventus | 9 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 12 | 24 | -12 | 6 |
| 7 | West Canberra Wanderers | 10 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 10 | 38 | -18 | 4 |
| 8 | White Eagles | 8 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 6 | 26 | -20 | 3 |
TOP SCORERS
17: Nico ABOT (Queanbeyan City)
7: Curtis SCHAEFFER (Brindabella Blues)
6: Hassan ALNUWAYSIR (ANU FC), Abderrahim DEALLAHI (Queanbeyan City), Jack GIBSON (ANU FC), Morris KADZOLA (Wagga City Wanderers), Dustin WELLS (Belconnen United), Thomas YONGAI (Wagga City Wanderers)
5: Virgil MOUTAUD (West Canberra Wanderers), Zac STEELE (Wagga City Wanderers)
4: Jake BISHOP (Belconnen United), Nathan DUCK (Canberra Juventus), Misko NAUMOSKI (Queanbeyan City), Ollie WITRZENS (Brindabella Blues)
3: Harry BILLINGTON (Belconnen United), Nahuel GUERRERO (Queanbeyan City), Jayde JAMES-WARD (Belconnen United), Abraham KEMP (Belconnen United), Babin PAUDYAL (Belconnen United), Riley WILLIAMS (Brindabella Blues), Own GOALS
2: Adam BROOKS (Canberra Juventus), Zac CHADWICK (ANU FC), Leo HADLEY (ANU FC), Ethan KRUG (ANU FC), Samson LUCAS (Wagga City Wanderers), Adrian MACOR (Canberra Juventus), Max MOTTL (ANU FC), Steven SRBINOSKI (Queanbeyan City), Jamie WARD (Brindabella Blues), Mohammed YANSANNEH (Queanbeyan City)
1: Wyatt ADAM (Wagga City Wanderers), Gabriel AYUEL (Queanbeyan City), Frazer BURNS (Canberra Juventus), Liam CRISTOFANI (West Canberra Wanderers), Baxter DONOHOE (West Canberra Wanderers), Daniel FELIZZI (Brindabella Blues), Daniel FOX (West Canberra Wanderers), Marcus GRZIC (White Eagles), Jacob HART (ANU FC), Josh HICKMAN (White Eagles), Jack JANKE (Belconnen United), Bojan JANKULOSKI (West Canberra Wanderers), Steven KRESKAS (Queanbeyan City), Owen LEARMONTH (Brindabella Blues), Kade LYONS (Wagga City Wanderers), Braulio MELO (White Eagles), Goran MILUTINOVIC (White Eagles), Alasdair MOORE (ANU FC), Michael NELSON (Brindabella Blues), Tim NGUYEN (Belconnen United), Jacob OCHIENG (Wagga City Wanderers), Fahad RAMADHAN (Wagga City Wanderers), Nicholas ROUFAGALIS (Canberra Juventus), Naser SMOQY (Wagga City Wanderers), Nashwan SULAIMAN (Wagga City Wanderers),Owen STEPHENSON (West Canberra Wanderers), Jai TEIN (Canberra Juventus), Luke VALLONE (Belconnen United), Liam VICKERS (White Eagles), Tao WANG (ANU FC), Isaac WEEKLEY (Brindabella Blues)
