Nothing could separate the top two as the clash at High Street between league leaders Queanbeyan City and second-placed Brindabella Blues ended with honours very much even as the two title contenders played out an entertaining 1-1 draw in front of an appreciative crowd.
With the match kicking off just after lunchtime, so City could prepare for a club event in the evening, the hosts had the perfect start to the contest as Mohammed Yansaneh struck in the 26th minute, his third goal of the season, to put Queanbeyan in front, much to the delight of the City faithful.
This Blues team is made of resilient stuff however, and they hit back just before the half-time break via a first of the campaign from Henry Wilks, sending the teams into the changing rooms all-square at 1-1.
Neither side could find a winner after the resumption of play, both having chances to do so, but the draw means that both teams are now half-a-dozen matches unbeaten and Queanbeyan were able to keep their five-point cushion at the head of the Capital Premier League table intact.
In further good news for Queanbeyan, the chasing pack which was headed by ANU FC slipped slightly further behind as the University team were trumped by Belconnen United in a home match played at McKellar Park, a late goal from the Blue Devils giving them a 2-1 success.
With nothing to separate the teams in the first-half, it appeared as if the sides were heading to the changing rooms at 0-0, only for Belconnen to steal a lead two minutes into stoppage time as Babin Paudyal was on hand to net his fourth goal of the year for the Blue Devils.
ANU FC have been in very good form in recent weeks, forcing their way back into promotion contention on the back of some excellent performances and their leading scorer, Jack Gibson, was to be the source of their equaliser here. The forward levelled matters with fourteen minutes remaining, moving onto double figures in the Golden Boot chase.
However, Belconnen United were able to turn the match on its head and reignite their hopes for going up to the National Premier League, when Man of the Match Jake Bishop scored the winner with two minutes remaining. Not even the dismissal of Head Coach Angelos Zaris could dampen the enthusiasm as the Blue Devils gained a massive victory.
Canberra Juventus unbeaten record stretched to three matches following a 1-1 draw with West Canberra Wanderers at Ainslie Oval, although the home side might be disappointed they didn’t come away with all three points. Wanderers definitely would having missed a second-half penalty at 1-0.
Wanderers managed to pick up their fifth point of the season, but still remain five adrift of Juventus despite taking the lead through a Clayton Gunning goal in the 68th minute after a goalless opening to the match.
The lead lasted just ten minutes though as after Peter Phillipa saved the penalty, the home side managed to force their way back into the match and were level on the scoreboard as Tom Cosentini found his first goal for the club having signed in the June transfer window.
White Eagles moved off the bottom of the table thanks to a surprise 2-1 victory over visiting Wagga City Wanderers in a match played at Hawker Football Centre due to the continued unavailability of the Eagles usual home, Woden Park.
Two second-half goals were enough for Eagles to break their eight-game losing streak, as both teams ended the match with ten men following the dismissals in the second-half of Eagles second scorer Lachlan Denley, and Wagga City Wanderers’ Jireh Sutton, the latter sent off for receiving a pair of yellow cards.
After a goalless opening half, it was Eagles who broke the deadlock just two minutes after the restart, Braulio Melo scoring for the second time this term, and when Denley made it two with nineteen minutes to play, the hosts were set fair for only their second win of 2024.
Kade Lyons pulled one back for Wagga eight minutes later, but despite the Eagles going down to ten, the Wanderers were unable to capitalise and slumped to a defeat which means they have not won in five matches and only picked up two points from a possible fifteen during the streak.
RESULTS
ROUND 11
22 June
Queanbeyan City 1 (Yansaneh 26’) Brindabella Blues 1 (Wilks 43’)
ANU FC 1 (Gibson 75’) Belconnen United 2 (Paudyal 45+2’, Bishop 88’)
Canberra Juventus 1 (Cosentini 78’) West Canberra Wanderers 1 (Gunning 68’)
White Eagles 2 (Braulio Melo 47’, Denley 71’) Wagga City Wanderers 1 (Lyons 79’)
TABLE
| P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | ||
| 1 | Queanbeyan City | 11 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 38 | 7 | +31 | 26 |
| 2 | Brindabella Blues | 11 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 29 | 18 | +11 | 21 |
| 3 | Belconnen United | 11 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 27 | 12 | +15 | 20 |
| 4 | ANU FC | 10 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 30 | 15 | +15 | 19 |
| 5 | Wagga City Wanderers | 11 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 25 | 26 | -1 | 15 |
| 6 | Canberra Juventus | 11 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 14 | 25 | -11 | 10 |
| 7 | White Eagles | 10 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 8 | 35 | -27 | 6 |
| 8 | West Canberra Wanderers | 11 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 11 | 45 | -34 | 5 |
TOP SCORERS
18: Nico ABOT (Queanbeyan City)
10: Jack GIBSON (ANU FC)
8: Hassan ALNUWAYSIR (ANU FC)
7: Curtis SCHAEFFER (Brindabella Blues)
6: Abderrahim DEALLAHI (Queanbeyan City), Morris KADZOLA (Wagga City Wanderers), Dustin WELLS (Belconnen United), Thomas YONGAI (Wagga City Wanderers)
5: Jake BISHOP (Belconnen United), Virgil MOUTAUD (West Canberra Wanderers), Zac STEELE (Wagga City Wanderers), Jamie WARD (Brindabella Blues), Riley WILLIAMS (Brindabella Blues), Ollie WITRZENS (Brindabella Blues)
4: Nathan DUCK (Canberra Juventus), Misko NAUMOSKI (Queanbeyan City), Babin PAUDYAL (Belconnen United)
3: Harry BILLINGTON (Belconnen United), Zac CHADWICK (ANU FC), Nahuel GUERRERO (Queanbeyan City), Jayde JAMES-WARD (Belconnen United), Abraham KEMP (Belconnen United), Adrian MACOR (Canberra Juventus), Mohammed YANSANEH (Queanbeyan City), Own GOALS
2: Adam BROOKS (Canberra Juventus), Leo HADLEY (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)
1: Wyatt ADAM (Wagga City Wanderers), Deng ALEER DENG (Brindabella Blues), Gabriel AYUEL (Queanbeyan City), Frazer BURNS (Canberra Juventus), Cuneyt CAGLAR (Brindabella Blues), Tom COSENTINI (Canberra Juventus), Liam CRISTOFANI (West Canberra Wanderers), Lachlan DENLEY (White Eagles), Baxter DONOHOE (West Canberra Wanderers), Daniel FELIZZI (Brindabella Blues), Daniel FOX (West Canberra Wanderers), Marcus GRZIC (White Eagles), Clayton GUNNING (West Canberra Wanderers), 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), 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), Henry WILKS (Brindabella Blues)
