There were three away wins to kick-start the new Capital Premier League season as Canberra Juventus, Belconnen United and ANU FC all gained maximum points on the road as the race for promotion to the National Premier League began underneath a cloudless blue sky in the National Capital.
A fiery encounter at Melrose Synthetic went the way of Canberra Juventus who struck late to see off West Canberra Wanderers, a goal four minutes into stoppage time from Dylan Barreto finally separating the two protagonists,
There were yellow cards aplenty shown by the match officials, two each handed to Wanderers midfielder Liam Vickers and Juventus’ Rakesh Gurung precipitating the dismissal of both, as the teams were evenly reduced to ten men apiece for the remainder of the contest.
At Woden Park, ANU FC struck two second-half goals to shake off the challenge of White Eagles and gain the summit of the CPL table at the end of Saturday evening ahead of the one match that was played on Sunday.
Eagles had taken the lead in the opening half of the contest with a goal from Sergio Linder, the new signing continuing his impressive form that he has shown in pre-season by netting the season opener at the Nest.
ANU FC, who had been knocked out of the Hahn Australia Cup Qualifying by Canberra Croatia, recovered well and equalised in the 58th minute via a goal from Nicholas Hope. Eagles retaliated but were unable to regain the lead and Ethan Krug made sure of the points with the winner twelve minutes remaining.
Both teams were reduced to ten men in the second stanza, Ethan Tudehope sent off for ANU FC, followed to the changing rooms by Eagles’ Kelvin Delle.
Two teams with broad ambitions of promotion to the top tier met at Ipan Park in Calwell and it was the Blue Devils from Belconnen United who triumphed in ten battle of the blues by a solitary goal to nil against Brindabella Blues.
The vital moment in the contest occurred just five minutes before the half-time whistle as the talented Jayde James-Ward found the space to score what would prove to be the matchwinner as the only goal of a fiercely contested, and particularly, even fixture in front of an appreciative crowd.
Mate Barisic scored twice as Canberra Olympic defeated Wagga City Wanderers 4-1 as they began their quest for a return to the NPL in fine fettle at O’Connor Enclosed with three points.
Barisic opened the scoring in the twelfth minute, and Olympic were two up at the break as Oliver Wiederkehr rolled back the years to score, and there was more to come after the break as Barisic sealed the points with his second goal of the afternoon.
Wagga City got a reward for their endeavours when Thomas Yongai pulled one back in the final minute of the match, but Olympic was able to restore their three-goal cushion when Mark Shields netted in stoppage time.
RESULTS
ROUND 1
Saturday 5 April
West Canberra Wanderers 0 Canberra Juventus 1 (Barreto 90+4’)
Brindabella Blues 0 Belconnen United 1 (James-Ward 40’)
White Eagles 1 (Lindner 16’) ANU FC 2 (Hope 58’, Krug 74’)
Sunday 6 April
Canberra Olympic 4 (Barisic 12’, 75’, Wiederkehr 37’, Shields 90+3’) Wagga City Wanderers 1 (Yongai 89’)
TABLE
| P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | ||
| 1 | Canberra Olympic | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | +3 | 3 |
| 2 | ANU FC | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 3 |
| 3 | Belconnen United | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 3 |
| 4 | Canberra Juventus | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 3 |
| 5 | White Eagles | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 0 |
| 6 | Brindabella Blues | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0 |
| 7 | West Canberra | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0 |
| 8 | Wagga City Wanderers | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | -3 | 0 |
TOP SCORERS
2: Mate BARISIC (Canberra Olympic)
1: Dylan BARRETO (Canberra Juventus), Nicholas HOPE (ANU FC), Jayde JAMES-WARD (Belconnen United), Ethan KRUG (ANU FC), Sergio LINDNER (White Eagles), Mark SHIELDS (Canberra Olympic), Oliver WIDERKEHR (Canberra Olympic), Thomas YONGAI (Wagga City Wanderers)
