It’s advantage Queanbeyan City in the race for promotion to the National Premier League as the men from across the border moved six-points clear of the chasing pack following a 3-0 success in the derby against White Eagles at Woden Park, on an afternoon where second-placed Brindabella Blues slipped-up.
As usual, it was Argentine hit-man Nico Abot that stole the show in terms of goalscoring prowess, the Queanbeyan striker netting either side of the half-time break to move onto a quite sensational twenty-three goals in only fourteen Capital Premier League matches, a strike rate that is propelling City, and their band of vociferous supporters, on a collision course with the NPL.
Not to be outdone by his South American compatriot, Nahuel Guerrero also found the net, in his case some nine minutes after the resumption of play in the second-half, the second goal of the contest and one which knocked the stuffing out of the Eagles who had played their part in containing the City threat and offering what they could on sporadic breakaways.
Brindabella Blues chase for the top spot took a body-blow as they relinquished two points, and ultimately, second-place in the league table as Canberra Juventus descended on Ipan Park in Calwell and emerged with great credit, as well as a point to consolidate sixth place on the table.
Goals have been a major issue for the men from Ainslie, so they were thrilled to take the lead against the Blues, Tony Maddafari picking an opportune time for him to open his goalscoring account for the season with the strike that allowed Juventus to enter the half-time break with a narrow lead.
The Blues aren’t on a run of fine form themselves for nothing though, and they grabbed a leveller in the sixty-eighth minute as Michael Nelson equalised, the goal being his third of the CPL season, and many may have predicted that Brindabella would kick on from there. Juventus though dug deep and came away with their second draw of the campaign and a share of the spoils.
Belconnen United reasserted themselves as Queanbeyan City’s amin challenger for that promotion spot, and the CPL championship crown, as they stormed Melrose Synthetic in the early afternoon kick-off, bagging half-a-dozen goals in another compresence display, winning 6-1 against West Canberra Wanderers.
The Blue Devils were simply too good for the Wanderers and led 3-0 at the break, the points all but secured for the visiting team via first-half goals from the in-form David Reitstatter and a brace for lively forward Jake Bishop, who looks to be growing in confidence with each passing week.
Bishop completed his hat-trick in the second-half, with Abraham Kemp joining in the fun by making is five nine minutes before Bishop rounded off his treble. The Wanderers have a forward in good nick as well in Baxter Donohoe, and he made it four in three games with a consolation, but the Blue Devils meeting with Brindabella in Round 15 is looking increasingly important after these results.
ANU FC may still harbour ambitions of promotion themselves, albeit they require results elsewhere to help their progress, and hinder others, but a 3-2 win over a stubborn Wagga City Wanderers team at ANU South Oval certainly has helped their cause, the University team now ten-points clear of Wagga in fourth.
The home team got off to the proverbial flyer in this encounter, Alasdair Moore opening the scoring in just the thirteenth minutes of the match, his second of the CPL season, and he was soon celebrating a third as ANU FC went 2-0 ahead just five minutes later. It was a lead they would hold until half-time.
Wagga City hit back with a brace of quick goals of their own in the second-half, Thomas Yongai reducing the arrears in the 66th minute and Maxwell Prest drawing the teams all-square just two minutes later. The scene was set for a match-winner and ANU FC frontman Jack Gibson duly obliged, his thirteenth goal of the season, proving to be the decisive moment.
RESULTS
ROUND 14
13 July
White Eagles 0 Queanbeyan City 3 (Abot 40’, 60’, Guerrero 54’)
West Canberra Wanderers 1 (Donohoe 78’) Belconnen United 6 (Reitstatter 28’, 53’, Bishop 30’, 43’, 70’, Kemp 61’)
Brindabella Blues 1 (Nelson 68’) Canberra Juventus 1 (Maddafari 47’)
ANU FC 3 (Moore 13’, 18’, Gibson 85’) Wagga City Wanderers 2 (Yongai 66’, Prest 68’)
TABLE
| P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | ||
| 1 | Queanbeyan City | 14 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 47 | 8 | +39 | 35 |
| 2 | Belconnen United | 14 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 45 | 14 | +31 | 29 |
| 3 | Brindabella Blues | 14 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 39 | 22 | +17 | 28 |
| 4 | ANU FC | 13 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 36 | 20 | +16 | 25 |
| 5 | Wagga City Wanderers | 14 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 29 | 36 | -7 | 15 |
| 6 | Canberra Juventus | 14 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 15 | 35 | -20 | 11 |
| 7 | West Canberra Wanderers | 14 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 16 | 56 | -40 | 8 |
| 8 | White Eagles | 13 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 9 | 46 | -37 | 6 |
TOP SCORERS
23: Nico ABOT (Queanbeyan City)
13: Jack GIBSON (ANU FC)
9: Jake BISHOP (Belconnen United), Curtis SCHAEFFER (Brindabella Blues)
8: Hassan ALNUWAYSIR (ANU FC), Abderrahim DEALLAHI (Queanbeyan City), Dustin WELLS (Belconnen United)
7: Thomas YONGAI (Wagga City Wanderers)
6: Morris KADZOLA (Wagga City Wanderers), Abraham KEMP (Belconnen United), Riley WILLIAMS (Brindabella Blues), Ollie WITRZENS (Brindabella Blues)
5: Baxter DONOHOE (West Canberra Wanderers), Virgil MOUTAUD (West Canberra Wanderers), Babin PAUDYAL (Belconnen United), David REITSTATTER (Belconnen United), Zac STEELE (Wagga City Wanderers), Jamie WARD (Brindabella Blues)
4: Harry BILLINGTON (Belconnen United), Nathan DUCK (Canberra Juventus), Nahuel GUERRERO (Queanbeyan City), Misko NAUMOSKI (Queanbeyan City)
3: Cuneyt CAGLAR (Brindabella Blues), Zac CHADWICK (ANU FC), Jayde JAMES-WARD (Belconnen United), Adrian MACOR (Canberra Juventus), Alasdair MOORE (ANU FC), Michael NELSON (Brindabella Blues), Henry WILKS (Brindabella Blues), Mohammed YANSANEH (Queanbeyan City), Own GOALS
2: Adam BROOKS (Canberra Juventus), Bryce FALEPAU (Wagga City Wanderers), Leo HADLEY (ANU FC), Jacob HART (ANU FC), Ethan KRUG (ANU FC), Samson LUCAS (Wagga City Wanderers), Kade LYONS (Wagga City Wanderers), Braulio MELO (White Eagles), Max MOTTL (ANU FC), Steven SRBINOSKI (Queanbeyan City), Luke VALLONE (Belconnen United)
1: Wyatt ADAM (Wagga City Wanderers), Deng ALEER DENG (Brindabella Blues), Gabriel AYUEL (Queanbeyan City), Frazer BURNS (Canberra Juventus), Tom COSENTINI (Canberra Juventus), Liam CRISTOFANI (West Canberra Wanderers), Lachlan DENLEY (White Eagles), Daniel FELIZZI (Brindabella Blues), Daniel FOX (West Canberra Wanderers), Marcus GRZIC (White Eagles), Clayton GUNNING (West Canberra Wanderers), Josh HICKMAN (White Eagles), Jack JANKE (Belconnen United), Bojan JANKULOSKI (West Canberra Wanderers), Deakin JEWELL (Belconnen United), Steven KRESKAS (Queanbeyan City), Owen LEARMONTH (Brindabella Blues),Tony MADDAFARI (Canberra Juventus), Goran MILUTINOVIC (White Eagles), Tim NGUYEN (Belconnen United), Jacob OCHIENG (Wagga City Wanderers), Maxwell PREST (Wagga City Wanderers), Fahad RAMADHAN (Wagga City Wanderers), Nicholas ROUFAGALIS (Canberra Juventus), Marko SAVKOVIC (Queanbeyan City), Naser SMOQY (Wagga City Wanderers), Ethan STAMATIS (West Canberra Wanderers), Nashwan SULAIMAN (Wagga City Wanderers),Owen STEPHENSON (West Canberra Wanderers), Jai TEIN (Canberra Juventus), Reece UPTON (White Eagles), Liam VICKERS (White Eagles), Tao WANG (ANU FC), Isaac WEEKLEY (Brindabella Blues)
