Brindabella Blues, the fairy-tale story of the Capital Premier League, continued their remarkable run to oust ANU FC and move into the Preliminary Final where only Queanbeyan City stand between them and a place in the Grand Final on Sunday 2 October.
The Blues finished last in the curtailed 2021 season, managing only two wins from seventeen matches and a meagre seven points in total, but have completely revolutionised their performances under the astute stewardship of legendary Head Coach Ray Junna who has crafted a youthful, exuberant group into genuine contenders.
They went into the Elimination Final against ANU FC as the underdogs and yet, at no stage, were they daunted by the prospect of taking on the multiple-time Capital Premier League Grand Finalists.
One goal was enough to seal Brindabella’s progress and it came from the unlikely source of Kenzo Sly-Umebayashi, the Blues goal hero picking the opportune time to score his first goal of the 2022 season.
There were one or two nervy moments, as was to be expected when playing a team of the calibre and quality of ANU FC with their wide-array of attacking talent, and yet the Blues held firm and are perhaps just ninety minutes away from a shot at the League Champions and potential glory.
Tuggeranong United underlined their championship quality by dismantling nearest challengers Queanbeyan City in a one-sided Qualification Final at Melrose Synthetic, the title-holders racking up a three-goal cushion by the half-time break, eventually running away with a 5-0 success.
United have made a habit during the 2022 campaign of blitzing teams in the early stages, taking firm control of matches and not letting that grip slip, and so it was little surprise to see them do just that again.
Euan Peterkin opened the scoring for Mitch Stevens’ team inside the opening six minutes to set the scene and Tuggeranong rarely let up from there, riding out the threat posed by Queanbeyan and extending their lead in the 33rd minute as striker Mark Richards took his personal tally for the season into double figures.
The killer goal arrived right on the cusp of half-time however, Patrick Hislop’s 12th CPL goal of the campaign giving Tuggeranong a three-goal lead at the break and, with that, a place in the Grand Final.
Queanbeyan weren’t likely to comeback from that kind of deficit, and they conceded two more after the break as Ryan Gulevski was unfortunately credited with a brace of own goals as the score-line blew out. United eventually progressing to the Grand Final, Queanbeyan with the second chance to join them.
RESULTS
Sunday 18 September
Qualification Final
Tuggeranong United 5 (Peterkin 6, Richards 33’, Hislop 45’, Gulevski 67’ (og), 72’ (og)) Queanbeyan City 0
Elimination Final
ANU FC 0 Brindabella Blues 1 (Sly-Umebayashi 11’)
