Woden-Weston 3 (Oliver Corbitt 21’, Martin Deng 31’, Michael Adams 81’) drew. Canberra FC 3 (Ryan Keir 10’, Own Goal 45+1’, Daniel Barac 71’)
Woden-Weston and Canberra FC shared the points in a see-sawing encounter on Saturday, with both teams exchanging the lead before the game finished in a 3-3 draw. Ryan Keir gave the visitors an early lead on the second go, seeing his initial header from a corner strike the post before reacting quickest to bundle the ball across the line.
21 minutes in parity was restored when Oliver Corbitt charged into the box to smash home Alex Oloriegbe’s cut back and they were in the lead 10 minutes later thanks to Martin Deng firing in from a tight angle despite an excellent initial save from Sam Brown.
An own-goal from 50th gamer Adam De Francheschi on the stroke of half-time brought Canberra FC back level though and 16 minutes into the second half they went ahead through Daniel Barac. He collected a cross from the right and despite going to ground managed to maintain possession before swiping the ball home to restore Canberra FC’s lead. There was still time for one more goal though, and it came from the penalty spot as Michael Adams sent Brown the wrong way to secure a share of the points.
Canberra FC host the Rhinos at Deakin next weekend looking to keep their top four hopes alive, while Woden-Weston take on Gungahlin.
Riverina Rhinos 0 def. by Tigers FC 2 (Mark Shields 36’, Hussain Fureje 46’)
Tigers kept up their pace at the top of the league thanks to a 2-0 win in Griffith over the Rhinos on Saturday night.
The ladder leaders took the lead nine minutes before half-time when Mark Shields was judged to have been brought down by the Rhinos goalkeeper and he made no mistake with the penalty, converting his own spot kick comfortably to put Tigers ahead at the break.
Shields was at the heart of their second as he controlled an aerial ball in the box before firing at goal and although it was saved initially, Hussain Fureje managed to make his way to the rebound and fire it in to the net to double the visitors advantage.
The night got worse for the Rhinos in the dying minutes with a red card to reduce them to ten men, and they will look to pick up points against Canberra FC at Deakin next week, while Tigers have the bye ahead of their massive FFA Cup clash on the following Wednesday night against Hume City.
Monaro Panthers 2 (Josh Gulevski 25’, 55’) def. by Canberra Olympic 3 (Andre Jancevski 6’, 33’, Nik Popovich 45+2’)
Canberra Olympic did enough to overcome two goals from Josh Gulevski against his former club, winning 3-2 against the Panthers at Riverside to open up a ten point gap on third spot. It took Frank Cachia’s men just six minutes to take the lead, and it came in easier fashion than expected as Andre Jancevski completely lost his marker and used his free header perfectly to put Olympic in front.
The Panthers looked to fight their way back into the match and they drew level after 23 minutes from a dangerous set piece. Gulevski stepped up and while he fired it into the wall, the ball took a wicked deflection and turned off the bounce leaving Rory Larkin in an awkward position and only able to palm the ball into the net.
It didn’t matter much for Olympic though as they went back ahead ten minutes later, again from a Kofi Danning set piece. This time Jay Kelly headed the ball on and Jancevski got a slight touch to direct it into the corner and in first half stoppage time the visitors netted what would eventually be the winner.
Stephen Domenici drew two defenders on the edge of the area and Nik Popovich streaked into the box unchecked, and after Domenici played the ball into his path he dinked it inside the near post to give Olympic a two-goal buffer.
Monaro hit back in the second half when Gulevski struck from a free-kick again, curling it into the bottom corner but it wasn’t enough as the hosts fell short by a goal.
The Panthers now turn their attention to an important meeting with Tuggeranong next weekend, and Olympic get ready to face Belconnen United at McKellar Park.
Belconnen United 0 v Gungahlin United 2 (Michael John 9’, Antoni Timotheou 16’)
Abandoned after 17 minutes, match to be continued at a later date.