Canberra Olympic continued to set the pace in the Capital Premier League as they claimed a sixth win out of seven, and remain undefeated, with a 6-2 hammering of Wagga City Wanderers at Gissing Oval in the early kick-off on Saturday afternoon.
Mate Barisic set the ball rolling inside the opening minute with his seventh goal of the season, but Wagga responded well and a fourth of the campaign from Thomas Yongai drew them level heading into half-time.
Olympic upped the ante in the second stanza and goals from Zachary Milczarek and Julian Borgna within seven minutes of each other gave the visiting team the platform they were looking for.
Nick Faust added a fourth in the 68th minute, his first goal of the season, before Borgna grabbed his second of the match with thirteen minutes to play. Bailey Sorenson rounded it off with the sixth in the last minute, Zac Steele pulling back a consolation deep into stoppage time.
A Jack Gibson hat-trick ensured that ANU FC would open up a two-point cushion in third place, with a game in hand on Canberra Juventus below them, as ANU FC roared to a 4-0 victory over White Eagles.
Gibson was the last ANU player to bag a treble almost a year ago, and the fleet-footed forward was in superb form once he had opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the 25th minute of the contest.
Gison made it two himself ten minutes into the second-half, leaving the Eagles with an uphill battle, and he completed his treble with eleven minutes to play, joining Mate Barisic and Sergio Lindner at the top of the pile in the race for the Golden Boot on seven goals each.
A fourth goal, converted by Lewis Dobbin four minutes into stoppage time added some gloss to the scoreline as the University team found some form.
A goal right on the cusp of half-time proved to be enough for Belconnen United to continue their fine start to the season as the McKellar Park faithful rose as one to greet the matchwinner in the single goal victory over Brindabella Blues.
The Blues, as is often the case, proved a belligerent opposition, difficult to break down and threatening on the break. But they were unable to hold out for the whole forty-five minutes of the first stanza as Jake Bishop broke their resolve close to the whistle with his third of the season.
After the break both teams had their moments, but Belconnen were to emerge the winners. Keeping the gap to Canberra Olympic to two points, whilst Brindabella Blues dropped to fifth.
Canberra Juventus relied on a pair of new signings to help them into the top four with both Cristian Barresi and Jak Matic on the scoresheet in their 3-0 victory over West Canberra Wanderers at Ainslie.
Barresi, who scored on his Juventus debut last week, was able to break the deadlock a minute into the second-half and, when the former Tigers FC player was able to double his and the team’s tally only two minutes later, the Wanderers were staring down the barrel.
Despite their best attempts they were to concede a third as Matic nabbed his first goal in Juventus colours with six minutes remaining, a goal that secured the points for the home team.
RESULTS
ROUND 8
Saturday 31 May
Wagga City Wanderers 2 (Yongai 30’, Steele 90+4’) Canberra Olympic 6 (M. Barisic 1’, Milczarek 52’, Borgna 59’, 77’, Faust 68’, Sorenson 90’)
Canberra Juventus 3 (Barresi 46’, 48’, Matic 84’) West Canberra Wanderers 0
Belconnen United 1 (Bishop 45’) Brindabella Blues 0
ANU FC 4 (Gibson 25’ (p), 55’, 79’, Dobbin 90+4’) White Eagles 0
TABLE
| P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | ||
| 1 | Canberra Olympic | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 29 | 8 | +21 | 19 |
| 2 | Belconnen United | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 16 | 7 | +9 | 17 |
| 3 | ANU FC | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 20 | 12 | +8 | 14 |
| 4 | Canberra Juventus | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 12 | 15 | -3 | 12 |
| 5 | Brindabella Blues | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 15 | 12 | +2 | 10 |
| 6 | White Eagles | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 13 | 16 | -3 | 7 |
| 7 | Wagga City Wanderers | 9 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 17 | 25 | -8 | 7 |
| 8 | West Canberra | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 4 | 31 | -27 | 0 |
TOP SCORERS
7: Mate BARISIC (Canberra Olympic), Jack GIBSON (ANU FC), Sergio LINDNER (White Eagles)
6: Curtis SCHAEFFER (Brindabella Blues)
5: Remi GACHET (Canberra Olympic), Kade LYONS (Wagga City Wanderers), Own GOALS
4: Mate BARISIC (Canberra Olympic), Abderrahim DELLAHI (White Eagles), Thomas YONGAI (Wagga City Wanderers)
3: Hassan ALNUWAYSIR (Canberra Olympic), Cristian BARRESI (Canberra Juventus), Jake BISHOP (Belconnen United), Julian BORGNA (Canberra Olympic), Tom COSENTINI (Canberra Juventus), Michael RINAUDO (Belconnen United), Antoni TIMOTHEOU (Canberra Olympic),
2: Harry BILLINGTON (Belconnen United), Jonathan JOHN (Brindabella Blues), Samuel LYE (ANU FC), Zachary MILCZAREK (Canberra Olympic), Andre OLIVEIRA (ANU FC), Babin PAUDYAL (Canberra Juventus), Mark SHIELDS (Canberra Olympic), Zac STEELE (Wagga City Wanderers), Henry WILKS (Brindabella Blues)
1: Andrew AITCHISON (West Canberra Wanderers), Deng ALEER DENG (Brindabella Blues), Dylan BARRETO (Canberra Juventus), Elijah BROOKER (Wagga City Wanderers), Isaac BROOKER (Wagga City Wanderers), Eliseo CASTRO (Canberra Juventus),Zac CHADWICK (ANU FC), Lewis DOBBION (ANU FC), Nick FAUST (Canberra Olympic), Monteagh GRACE (ANU FC), Marcus GRZIC (West Canberra Wanderers), Finn HARMER (Brindabella Blues), Jacon HART (ANU FC), Ben HICK (White Eagles), Nicholas HOPE (ANU FC), Jayde JAMES-WARD (Belconnen United), Morris KADZOLA (Wagga City Wanderers), Ethan KRUG (ANU FC), Tony MADAFFARI (Canberra Juventus), Jak MATIC (Canberra Juventus), Jasper MILIN (Canberra Juventus), Alasdair MOORE (ANU FC), Max MOTTL (ANU FC), Adam NEOU (Canberra Olympic), Van NGUYEN (West Canberra Wanderers), Jacob OCHIENG (Wagga City Wanderers), Patrick O’ROURKE (Belconnen United), Maxwell PREST (Wagga City Wanderers), Ferney RENTERIA (White Eagles), Pedro SERRANO (Belconnen United), Kye SMITH (Belconnen United), Bailey SORENSON (Canberra Olympic), Ethan STAMATIS (West Canberra Wanderers), Dustin WELLS (Belconnen United), Oliver WIEDERKEHR (Canberra Olympic), Riley WILLIAMS (Brindabella Blues), Oliver WIRTZENS (Brindabella Blues), Kyle YEATES (Wagga City Wanderers)
