CPL League Champions Queanbeyan City have taken a massive step towards securing the double with a strong performance, defeating ANU FC by two goals at Kambah 201. In the other fixture, Brindabella Blues prevailed in a thriller with a 118th minute free kick advancing them to the preliminary final.
Looking to make back-to-back Grand Finals, the recently promoted Queanbeyan City battled against ANU FC for a chance to go directly into the Grand Final. It was a rather cagey opening as both teams jostled for control, but neither was able to put themselves on top. Jack Gibson had the first real shot of the afternoon, with his effort going just wide of the Queanbeyan goal.
The men in Red responded as Mohamed Yansaneh saw his first time shot tipped just wide by Ashley Collins. ANU had a great chance to take the lead halfway through the first stanza, but keeper Nic Middleton stood tall to deny a one on one save and keep scores level.
Queanbeyan took control from then on, and their dominance paid off 13 minutes into the second half. Rising highest at the back post, Nahuel Guerrero headed the ball home to send the Queanbeyan faithful into raptures and give his side the advantage.
Not to be deterred, ANU fought for an equaliser and might have had one, only for Leo Hadley to agonisingly send over the bar from close range. Staying calm, the league champions went forward soon after and doubled their advantage as Nico Abot scored his 27th goal of the season and sent Queanbeyan through to the Grand Final.
Brindabella Blues prevailed in a tense encounter over Belconnen United, with a Daniel Munoz free kick in the 118th minute the difference. Belconnen enjoyed most of the chances early on but failed to convert as veteran Dustin Wells headed narrowly wide from close range.
Proper chances were few and far between, as Belconnen again went close to taking the lead just before the half-time break off the back of a Wells free kick. The game opened up in the second half with chances at either end. Curtis Schaeffer had chances to put Brindabella in front.
The Blues had a golden opportunity to seal the win in injury time, with a free kick in the 90th minute but failed to break through a well marshalled Belconnen defence.
Extra time was a similar story, with neither side wanting to have go through the drama of a penalty shootout.
With scores still looked in the 118th minute, and it seeming likely that a shootout was on the cards, Daniel Munoz stepped up for Brindabella sending a perfectly hit free kick into the top corner, sealing their spot in the Preliminary Final against ANU FC.
RESULTS
Sunday 8 September
QUALIFICATION FINAL
Queanbeyan City 2 (Guerrero 58’, Abot 73’) ANU FC 0
ELIMINATION FINAL
Belconnen United 0 Brindabella Blues 1 (Munoz 118’)
TOP SCORERS
27: Nico ABOT (Queanbeyan City)
18: Jack GIBSON (ANU FC)
13: Dustin WELLS (Belconnen United)
12: Hassan ALNUWAYSIR (ANU FC)
11: Jake BISHOP (Belconnen United)
10: Abderrahim DEALLAHI (Queanbeyan City), Morris KADZOLA (Wagga City Wanderers), Abraham KEMP (Belconnen United), Curtis SCHAEFFER (Brindabella Blues)
9: David REITSTATTER (Belconnen United)
8: Jacob HART (ANU FC)
7: Nathan DUCK (Canberra Juventus), Nahuel GUERRERO (Queanbeyan City), Riley WILLIAMS (Brindabella Blues), Ollie WITRZENS (Brindabella Blues), Thomas YONGAI (Wagga City Wanderers), Own GOALS
6: Adrian MACOR (Canberra Juventus), Babin PAUDYAL (Belconnen United), Zac STEELE (Wagga City Wanderers)
5: Harry BILLINGTON (Belconnen United), Baxter DONOHOE (West Canberra Wanderers), Ethan KRUG (ANU FC), Virgil MOUTAUD (West Canberra Wanderers)
4: Misko NAUMOSKI (Queanbeyan City), Henry WILKS (Brindabella Blues), 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)
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), Jacob OCHIENG (Wagga City Wanderers), Pedro PEREIRA (White Eagles), Vasko PETROVSKI (Queanbeyan City), Maxwell PREST (Wagga City Wanderers), Steven SRBINOSKI (Queanbeyan City), Jan WOJNA (ANU FC)
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), Daniel MUNOZ (Brindabella Blues), Tim NGUYEN (Belconnen United), 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), Denis ZIMBA (Brindabella Blues)