Canberra Juventus, who gave a debut to former O’Connor Knights midfielder Micheal Adams, continued their push for promotion as they recorded a convincing 5-0 away win over Wagga City Wanderers at Gissing Oval in the Capital Premier League.
In the early afternoon kick-off Juventus took twenty-six minutes to hit the lead as Adam Brooks broke the deadlock with his first goal of the season, but when Luca Macor did likewise three minutes later, they were firmly in control.
A double within three second-half minutes from Cristian Barresi, both goals coming within seven minutes of the restart and taking him to half-a-dozen for the season, secured the win for the visiting team who added gloss to the scoreline when Jak Matic made it five just past the hour.
In the big match at the top of the table it was Belconnen United who emerged as the victors, a single goal from midfielder Patrick O’Rourke securing the points in a 1-0 win over Canberra Olympic.
McKellar Park was a fitting venue for the match between the two sides who have been dominating the league table, and the encounter was a fitting tribute to both teams who are eagerly seeking promotion back to the National Premier League.
The vital moment came just eight minutes into the second-half, after a goalless opening forty-five minutes had failed to separate the teams, and it was O’Rourke who provided the moment of magic with his second goal of the season.
O’Rourke’s goal reduced the gap between the teams at the top to just a single point, springing life into the chase for the title.
ANU FC are also keeping up the pace at the top pf the table and they remained on course for their own title tilt with a 2-1 away win over Brindabella Blues at Ipan Park in Calwell.
The visiting team had to do it the hard way though, coming from behind after Riley Williams had scored his second goal of the season to give the Blues the lead twenty minutes from the half-time break.
The University side kept plugging away though and drew level with eighteen minutes remaining via a goal from Ethan Tudehope, and they won it just eight minutes later as the Golden Boot leading Jack Gibson bagged what proved to be the winner with his twelfth goal of the season.
West Canberra Wanderers broke a nineteen-game streak without a victory by defeating White Eagles 2-1 in a feisty contest at Melrose Enclosed, the home side netting the matchwinner two minutes into the second-half.
Juan Tellez had given the hosts the lead inside the opening four minutes, but former Wanderer Nik Noveski was able to level matters for White Eagles three minutes past the half-hour to send the teams into the changing rooms all square.
West Canberra came out of the blocks firing in the second stanza and Marcus Grzic scored his second goal of the season two minutes after the resumption with the strike that turned out to be the winner ending nearly a year without one for the Wanderers.
RESULTS
ROUND 11
Saturday 21 June
Wagga City Wanderers 0 Canberra Juventus 5 (Brooks 26’, Macor 29’, Barresi 49’, 52’, Matic 62’)
Brindabella Blues 1 (Williams 25’) ANU FC 2 (Tudehope 72’, Gibson 80’)
West Canberra Wanderers 2 (Tellez 4’, Grzic 47’) White Eagles 1 (Noveski 33’)
Belconnen United 1 (O’Rourke 53’) Canberra Olympic 0
TABLE
| P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | ||
| 1 | Canberra Olympic | 10 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 37 | 10 | +27 | 25 |
| 2 | Belconnen United | 10 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 22 | 10 | +12 | 24 |
| 3 | ANU FC | 10 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 30 | 15 | +15 | 21 |
| 4 | Canberra Juventus | 11 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 23 | 22 | +1 | 16 |
| 5 | Brindabella Blues | 11 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 21 | 18 | +3 | 13 |
| 6 | Wagga City Wanderers | 11 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 23 | 33 | -10 | 10 |
| 7 | White Eagles | 10 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 19 | 27 | -8 | 8 |
| 8 | West Canberra | 11 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 7 | 47 | -40 | 3 |
TOP SCORERS
12: Jack GIBSON (ANU FC)
9: Sergio LINDNER (White Eagles)
7: Mate BARISIC (Canberra Olympic), Julian BORGNA (Canberra Olympic), Kade LYONS (Wagga City Wanderers), Curtis SCHAEFFER (Brindabella Blues)
6: Cristian BARRESI (Canberra Juventus), Remi GACHET (Canberra Olympic), Own GOALS
4: Mate BARISIC (Canberra Olympic), Jake BISHOP (Belconnen United), Abderrahim DELLAHI (White Eagles), Jak MATIC (Canberra Juventus), Michael RINAUDO (Belconnen United), Zac STEELE (Wagga City Wanderers), Thomas YONGAI (Wagga City Wanderers)
3: Hassan ALNUWAYSIR (Canberra Olympic), Tom COSENTINI (Canberra Juventus), Finn HARMER (Brindabella Blues), Samuel LYE (ANU FC), Zachary MILCZAREK (Canberra Olympic), Mark SHIELDS (Canberra Olympic), Antoni TIMOTHEOU (Canberra Olympic), Dustin WELLS (Belconnen United), Henry WILKS (Brindabella Blues)
2: Harry BILLINGTON (Belconnen United), Marcus GRZIC (West Canberra Wanderers), Jacob HART (ANU FC), Nicholas HOPE (ANU FC), Jonathan JOHN (Brindabella Blues), Jasper MILIN (Canberra Juventus), Adam NEOU (Canberra Olympic), Andre OLIVEIRA (ANU FC), Patrick O’ROURKE (Belconnen United), Babin PAUDYAL (Canberra Juventus), Ali SOHANI (White Eagles), Riley WILLIAMS (Brindabella Blues)
1: Andrew AITCHISON (West Canberra Wanderers), Deng ALEER DENG (Brindabella Blues), Dylan BARRETO (Canberra Juventus), Nikolas BLASKOVIC (Brindabella Blues), Elijah BROOKER (Wagga City Wanderers), Isaac BROOKER (Wagga City Wanderers), Adam BROOKS (Canberra Juventus), Eliseo CASTRO (Canberra Juventus),Zac CHADWICK (ANU FC), Lewis DOBBION (ANU FC), Nick FAUST (Canberra Olympic), Monteagh GRACE (ANU FC), Benjamin HADFIELD (ANU FC), Ben HICK (White Eagles), Jayde JAMES-WARD (Belconnen United), Morris KADZOLA (Wagga City Wanderers), Damien KENNEDY (White Eagles), Ethan KRUG (ANU FC), Luca MACOR (Canberra Juventus), Tony MADAFFARI (Canberra Juventus), Alasdair MOORE (ANU FC), Max MOTTL (ANU FC), Van NGUYEN (West Canberra Wanderers), Nik NOVESKI (White Eagles), Jacob OCHIENG (Wagga City Wanderers), Maxwell PREST (Wagga City Wanderers), Ferney RENTERIA (White Eagles), Tupaia RINGI (Belconnen United), Pedro SERRANO (Belconnen United), Patrick SHORE (Canberra Juventus), Kye SMITH (Belconnen United), Naser SMOQY (Wagga City Wanderers), Bailey SORENSON (Canberra Olympic), Ethan STAMATIS (West Canberra Wanderers), Juan TELLEZ (West Canberra Wanderers) Ethan TUDEHOPE (ANU FC), Liam VICKERS (West Canberra Wanderers), Oliver WIEDERKEHR (Canberra Olympic), Oliver WIRTZENS (Brindabella Blues), Kyle YEATES (Wagga City Wanderers)
