Queanbeyan City finally achieved their long-awaited goal of promotion to the National Premier League by securing the point they needed in a 1-1 draw with ANU FC at ANU South in Round 20 of the Capital League.
City’s third successive draw was enough to move them into an unassailable position at the top of the second tier, ANU FC forced to battle for second place and a shot at the Qualification Final in the top-four play-offs after falling short of the maximum return they needed to keep the promotion race alive.
Seven days ago, Nahuel Guerrero was the villain of the piece, his own goal meaning City had to settle for a draw against Brindabella Blues, but here was the giant Argentine defender making amends, opening the scoring on the hour mark sparking much jubilation from the City followers.
This being Queanbeyan though, they were never going to do things the easy way and, within five minutes of taking the lead, they had coughed up an equaliser. Speedy ANU FC forward Jack Gibson was the man on target, his eighteenth goal of the season giving the University team some hope.
But Queanbeyan were not to be denied, and they did enough to get the point that secures the title and with it the ultimate goal of a place at the top table and a chance to push ever onwards to further glory.
Belconnen United did all they could do to hold ANU FC at bay, the University team having that midweek game in hand against White Eagles as a trump card, as the Blue Devils scored once in each half to see off the challenge of Canberra Juventus at Ainslie Oval.
In an even contest before the break, it took a goal from Dustin Wells to break the deadlock, the veteran forward taking his season tally to an even dozen with another well-executed strike. The goal gave Belconnen United the slenderest of margins to take into the break.
A second was to prove crucial and it was David Reitstatter who was on target once more to secure the points with twenty-five minutes remaining. Reitstatter continued his excellent run of form with his ninth of the campaign, a decent return for a mid-season signing and a goal that gives Belconnen hope of hanging on to second place.
There was a surprise at Ipan Park in Calwell as Wagga City Wanderers emerged from their clash with Brindabella Blues with a 1-0 victory that saw them re-inherit fifth place on the table from Canberra Juventus.
Brindabella’s desperate end of season form, which has seen them win only twice in the last seven matches of the season, was encapsulated in this performance, a strangely flat display from the hosts which enabled the Wanderers to score the goal they needed and to hold on for the three points.
It was little surprise that it was midfield magician Morris Kadzola that did the damage, his strike eight minutes into the second-half proving to the match-winner and the goal scorer’s ninth of a productive campaign.
A madcap end to the first-half at Woden Park in which four goals were scored helped White Eagles to an epic seven-goal victory over West Canberra Wanderers, the Eagles 4-3 success meaning they came off the bottom of the table and left their direct opponents in the potential relegation spot.
There was little sign of the goal-fest to come when Pedro Pereria gave the hosts a 1-0 lead in the eleventh minute of the match, only for Wanderers to strike back as Seth Wright levelled matters nine minutes later.
That set the scene for what was to follow as Riley Angelosante scored his third of the season with six minutes to the break, only for Filip Duckinoski to reply in kind immediately from the kick-off.
It didn’t end there. Pereira scored his second goal just two minutes later to restore Eagles lead, but Mitchell Cotter equalised for a third time for Wanderers on the stroke of half-time. Eagles won it in the second-half, Braulio Melo netting with thirteen minutes to play, a more sedate ending to a crazy game that leaves Eagles in seventh.
RESULTS
ROUND 20
24 August
ANU FC 1 (Gibson 65’) Queanbeyan City 1 (Guerrero 60’)
Brindabella Blues 0 Wagga City Wanderers 1 (Kadzola 53’)
Canberra Juventus 0 Belconnen United 2 (Wells 24’, Reitstatter 65’)
White Eagles 4 (Pereira 11’, 42’, Angelosante 39’, Braulio Melo 77’) West Canberra Wanderers 3 (Wright 20’, Duckinoski 40’, Cotter 44’)
TABLE
| P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | ||
| 1 | Queanbeyan City (P) | 20 | 15 | 4 | 2 | 63 | 11 | +52 | 47 |
| 2 | Belconnen United | 20 | 12 | 5 | 3 | 60 | 20 | +40 | 41 |
| 3 | ANU FC | 19 | 12 | 3 | 4 | 51 | 24 | +27 | 39 |
| 4 | Brindabella Blues | 20 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 45 | 30 | +15 | 36 |
| 5 | Wagga City Wanderers | 20 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 36 | 46 | -10 | 22 |
| 6 | Canberra Juventus | 20 | 6 | 2 | 12 | 23 | 45 | -22 | 20 |
| 7 | White Eagles | 19 | 3 | 1 | 15 | 15 | 60 | -45 | 10 |
| 8 | West Canberra Wanderers | 20 | 2 | 2 | 16 | 21 | 79 | -58 | 8 |
TOP SCORERS
25: Nico ABOT (Queanbeyan City)
18: Jack GIBSON (ANU FC)
12: Dustin WELLS (Belconnen United)
10: Jake BISHOP (Belconnen United), Abderrahim DEALLAHI (Queanbeyan City), Curtis SCHAEFFER (Brindabella Blues)
9: Hassan ALNUWAYSIR (ANU FC), Morris KADZOLA (Wagga City Wanderers), David REITSTATTER (Belconnen United)
7: Nathan DUCK (Canberra Juventus), Abraham KEMP (Belconnen United), Riley WILLIAMS (Brindabella Blues), Ollie WITRZENS (Brindabella Blues), Thomas YONGAI (Wagga City Wanderers)
6: Nahuel GUERRERO (Queanbeyan City), Babin PAUDYAL (Belconnen United), Zac STEELE (Wagga City Wanderers), Own GOALS
5: Harry BILLINGTON (Belconnen United), Baxter DONOHOE (West Canberra Wanderers), Jacob HART (ANU FC), Ethan KRUG (ANU FC), Virgil MOUTAUD (West Canberra Wanderers)
4: Adrian MACOR (Canberra Juventus), Misko NAUMOSKI (Queanbeyan City), Mohammed YANSANEH (Queanbeyan City)
3: Riley ANGELOSANTE (White Eagles), Gabriel AYUEL (Queanbeyan City), Cuneyt CAGLAR (Brindabella Blues), Zac CHADWICK (ANU FC), Liam CRISTOFANI (West Canberra Wanderers), Jayde JAMES-WARD (Belconnen United), Kade LYONS (Wagga City Wanderers), Braulio MELO (White Eagles), Alasdair MOORE (ANU FC), Michael NELSON (Brindabella Blues), Marko SAVKOVIC (Queanbeyan City), Luke VALLONE (Belconnen United), Tao WANG (ANU FC), Henry WILKS (Brindabella Blues)
2: Deng ALEER DENG (Brindabella Blues), Seth BONNET (Queanbeyan City), Adam BROOKS (Canberra Juventus), Frazer BURNS (Canberra Juventus), Bryce FALEPAU (Wagga City Wanderers), Leo HADLEY (ANU FC), Samson LUCAS (Wagga City Wanderers), Max MOTTL (ANU FC), Pedro PEREIRA (White Eagles), Vasko PETROVSKI (Queanbeyan City), Steven SRBINOSKI (Queanbeyan City)
1: Wyatt ADAM (Wagga City Wanderers), David CARDER (Belconnen United), Tom COSENTINI (Canberra Juventus), Mitchell COTTER (West Canberra Wanderers), Lachlan DENLEY (White Eagles), Filip DUCKINOSKI (West Canberra Wanderers), 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), Finley JENKINS (Wagga City Wanderers), Deakin JEWELL (Belconnen United), Steven KRESKAS (Queanbeyan City), Jiachan LANG (ANU FC), 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), Mark SHIELDS (Queanbeyan City), Nathan SINGH, 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), Isaac WEEKLEY (Brindabella Blues), Seth WRIGHT (West Canberra Wanderers)
Photo: Queanbeyan City Facebook Page
