Queanbeyan City hit a perfect ten as they annihilated struggling West Canberra Wanderers 10-0 on an afternoon to forget for the team relegated from the National Premier League, the home team opening up a five-point gap in the race for promotion in the Capital Premier League.
Niko Abot struck six for the victorious Queanbeyan, opening the scoring in the opening minute and finishing it ninety minutes later, in between times the hosts ripping apart their youthful opposition and scoring almost at will.
Not to be outdone by his Argentinean compatriot early on, Nahuel Guerrero doubled the lead in the fifteenth minute, with Abot making it three a minute later. That precipitated a blitz of goals as Abot completed his hat-trick half-way through the opening stanza, Guerrero made it four a couple of minutes later, before Abot scored again.
Mohammed Yansanneh grabbed the seventh of the afternoon in the 36th minute as Wanderers sought the shelter of the changing rooms. The respite was short-lived as Abot netted his fifth five minutes after the resumption, Abderrahim Dellahi getting in on the act with goal number nine in the 65th minute.
Abot rounded it all off by grabbing his double hat-trick in time added on, taking his league tally for the season to seventeen in nine matches, as City were in ruthless, and unforgiving, form.
Belconnen United were stunned to concede an equaliser six minutes into time added on as they were held 2-2 at home by Wagga City Wanderers, the home side appearing to have won the match with a late flurry, only to be frustrated by the concession of the match-levelling goal.
There was nothing to choose between the teams in an evenly matched opening half, but the game burst into life in the final twelve minutes of regulation time, plus the minutes added on by the match officials at the end of the contest.
The Wanderers go-to man opened the scoring, Morris Kadzola calmly slotting home from the penalty spot in the 78th minute after the visitors had been awarded a spot-kick, the goal being the schemer’s sixth of the season to date.
However, the Blue Devils responded in kind only three minutes later as Jake Bishop found the room to equalise and, when the same player found a second of the match as the clicked ticked over to ninety minutes, three precious points appeared headed the home team’s way.
Wagga are a resilient bunch though and stole themselves what might prove to be a valuable point when Kade Lyons brought the match all-square with moments remaining.
Brindabella Blues dented ANU FC’s hopes of a title challenge as the Blues won 2-1 at Hawker Football Centre to move to within two points of their hosts and within one point of a place in the top four.
The visiting side got off to the perfect start as striker Curtis Schaeffer struck his seventh goal of the season, and it was that solitary goal that had Brindabella ahead by the half-time mark.
Usually this season, ANU FC have been stronger after the break, and that proved the case again here, but it was Brindabella who went further ahead as Owen Learmonth scored his first of the 2024 campaign to double their lead and give the travelling Brindabella fans extra to cheer out.
As he did in Round 8 though, ANU frontman Jack Gibson scored in the 72nd minute, only this time it did not prove to be the catalyst for a late University revival and the Blues claimed an excellent win on the road.
Canberra Juventus eased their relegation worries, and heaped more on White Eagles, with a competent 3-0 victory at Ainslie Enclosed as the club celebrated Festa Della Repubblica & Juventus Old Boys Day in style.
Juventus’ win moved them three points clear of their opponents and gives them a modicum of a cushion over the teams below them, the home team going in front thanks to a goal after eighteen minutes from Nicholas Roufagalis who headed home from a corner.
Jono Ciminelli was dismissed just after half-time, reducing the Eagles to ten men after receiving a second yellow card leaving them up against it, and Juventus were able to take advantage of the numerical superiority as Adrian Macor doubled the lead in the 63rd minute.
The result was secured in the final minute as Nathan Duck, introduced from the substitutes bench, got on the end of a ball into the penalty area and slot coolly home after drawing the last defender.
RESULT
ROUND 9
1 June
Queanbeyan City 10 (Abot 1’, 16’, 22’, 26’, 50’, 90+1’, Guerrero 15’, 24’, Yansanneh 36’, Dellahi 65’) West Canberra Wanderers 0
Canberra Juventus 3 (Roufagalis 18’, Macor 63’, Duck 90’) White Eagles 0
Belconnen United 2 (Bishop 81’, 90’) Wagga City Wanderers 2 (Kadzola 78’ (p), Lyons 90+6’)
ANU FC 1 (Gibson 72’) Brindabella Blues 2 (Schaeffer 9’, Learmouth 64’)
TABLE
| P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | ||
| 1 | Queanbeyan City | 9 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 36 | 6 | +30 | 22 |
| 2 | Belconnen United | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 24 | 8 | +16 | 17 |
| 3 | ANU FC | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 23 | 13 | +10 | 16 |
| 4 | Wagga City Wanderers | 9 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 24 | 23 | +1 | 15 |
| 5 | Brindabella Blues | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 18 | 16 | +2 | 14 |
| 6 | Canberra Juventus | 9 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 12 | 24 | -12 | 6 |
| 7 | West Canberra Wanderers | 10 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 10 | 38 | -18 | 4 |
| 8 | White Eagles | 8 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 6 | 26 | -20 | 3 |
TOP SCORERS
17: Nico ABOT (Queanbeyan City)
7: Curtis SCHAEFFER (Brindabella Blues)
6: Hassan ALNUWAYSIR (ANU FC), Abderrahim DEALLAHI (Queanbeyan City), Jack GIBSON (ANU FC), Morris KADZOLA (Wagga City Wanderers), Dustin WELLS (Belconnen United), Thomas YONGAI (Wagga City Wanderers)
5: Virgil MOUTAUD (West Canberra Wanderers), Zac STEELE (Wagga City Wanderers)
4: Jake BISHOP (Belconnen United), Nathan DUCK (Canberra Juventus), Misko NAUMOSKI (Queanbeyan City)
3: Harry BILLINGTON (Belconnen United), Nahuel GUERRERO (Queanbeyan City), Abraham KEMP (Belconnen United), Babin PAUDYAL (Belconnen United), Riley WILLIAMS (Brindabella Blues), Own GOALS
2: Adam BROOKS (Canberra Juventus), Zac CHADWICK (ANU FC), Leo HADLEY (ANU FC), Ethan KRUG (ANU FC), Samson LUCAS (Wagga City Wanderers), Adrian MACOR (Canberra Juventus), Max MOTTL (ANU FC), Steven SRBINOSKI (Queanbeyan City), Jamie WARD (Brindabella Blues), Ollie WITRZENS (Brindabella Blues), Mohammed YANSANNEH (Queanbeyan City)
1: Wyatt ADAM (Wagga City Wanderers), Gabriel AYUEL (Queanbeyan City), Frazer BURNS (Canberra Juventus), Liam CRISTOFANI (West Canberra Wanderers), Baxter DONOHOE (West Canberra Wanderers), Daniel FELIZZI (Brindabella Blues), Daniel FOX (West Canberra Wanderers), Marcus GRZIC (White Eagles), Jacob HART (ANU FC), Josh HICKMAN (White Eagles), Jayde JAMES-WARD (Belconnen United), Jack JANKE (Belconnen United), Bojan JANKULOSKI (West Canberra Wanderers), Steven KRESKAS (Queanbeyan City), Owen LEARMONTH (Brindabella Blues), Kade LYONS (Wagga City Wanderers), Braulio MELO (White Eagles), 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)
