Midweek action in the Capital Premier League left the league table looking exactly as it was as all three of the top trio claimed victories to continue their push towards the summit of the competition.
League leading Canberra Olympic were 3-1 winners away to Brindabella Blues at Ipan Park, where the visitors took the lead nineteen minutes before the half-time break through a goal from Julian Borgna.
The crucial moment arrived on the cusp of half-time as Borgna netted again, his fifth of the season, to put Olympic 2-0 ahead an in control of the destiny of the points that would keep them at the top of the table.
Henry Wilks did give Brindabella a glimmer of hope of claiming something tangible from the match with a 78th minute riposte, but as the Blues sought an equaliser, Olympic hit them in the final minute as Adam Neou secured the victory.
Belconnen United remained in hot pursuit of the leaders as they claimed a 4-2 home victory over Canberra Juventus in a match that was played at Gungahlin Enclosed Oval on a cold evening.
The hosts took the lead in only the fourth minute as Michael Rinaudo broke the deadlock early on with his fourth league goal of the campaign, only for Patrick Shore to respond within minutes of Juventus.
A strike from the evergreen Dustin Wells restored the Blue Devils lead, but it wasn’t until the final minutes that the match kicked into gear in terms of goals. Wells’ second appeared to have secured the victory, and when Tupaia Ringi made it 4-1 there was no coming back for Juventus.
Jasper Milin’s goal six minutes from time gave some outside chance of a miracle comeback, but it wasn’t really on the cards, the sending off of Luc Macor on his Juventus’ debut putting paid to any hopes of that.
Four goals from in-form striker Jack Gibson helped ANU FC to a comfortable, and comprehensive, 7-1 hammering of West Canberra Wanderers at ANU South Oval in an early kick-off.
Gibson, who hit a hat-trick on the weekend, moved top of the Golden Boot charts outright with his four-goal haul, taking him to eleven for the CPL campaign and seven in his last two starts.
After taking a tenth minute lead through Jacob Hart, it took ANU quite some time to shake off the Wanderers, a brace of goals from Gibson in the 49th and 51st minutes of the match finally adding some breathing space for the home team.
Liam Vickers pulled one back for the Wanderers, only their fifth league goal of the season, but further strikes from Samuel Lye, Benjamin Hadfield, and a late double from Gibson rounded off an ANU FC success.
RESULTS
ROUND 9
Wednesday 4 June
ANU FC 7 (Hart 10’, Gibson 49’, 51’, 84’, 90’, Lye 68’, Hadfield 86’) West Canberra Wanderers 1 (Vickers 60’)
Belconnen United 4 (Rinaudo 4’, Wells 40’, 79’, Ringi 81’) Canberra Juventus 2 (Shore 7’, Milin 84’)
Brindabella Blues 1 (Wilks 78’) Canberra Olympic 3 (Borgna 26’, 45’, Neou 90’)
Saturday 7 June
Wagga City Wanderers v White Eagles
TABLE
| P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | ||
| 1 | Canberra Olympic | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 32 | 9 | +23 | 22 |
| 2 | Belconnen United | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 20 | 9 | +11 | 20 |
| 3 | ANU FC | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 27 | 13 | +14 | 17 |
| 4 | Canberra Juventus | 9 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 14 | 19 | -5 | 12 |
| 5 | Brindabella Blues | 9 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 16 | 15 | +1 | 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 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 5 | 38 | -33 | 0 |
TOP SCORERS
11: Jack GIBSON (ANU FC)
7: Mate BARISIC (Canberra Olympic), Sergio LINDNER (White Eagles)
6: Curtis SCHAEFFER (Brindabella Blues)
5: Julian BORGNA (Canberra Olympic), Remi GACHET (Canberra Olympic), Kade LYONS (Wagga City Wanderers), Own GOALS
4: Mate BARISIC (Canberra Olympic), Abderrahim DELLAHI (White Eagles), Michael RINAUDO (Belconnen United), Thomas YONGAI (Wagga City Wanderers)
3: Hassan ALNUWAYSIR (Canberra Olympic), Cristian BARRESI (Canberra Juventus), Jake BISHOP (Belconnen United), Tom COSENTINI (Canberra Juventus), Samuel LYE (ANU FC), Antoni TIMOTHEOU (Canberra Olympic), Dustin WELLS (Belconnen United), Henry WILKS (Brindabella Blues)
2: Harry BILLINGTON (Belconnen United), Jacob HART (ANU FC), Jonathan JOHN (Brindabella Blues), Zachary MILCZAREK (Canberra Olympic), Jasper MILIN (Canberra Juventus), Adam NEOU (Canberra Olympic), Andre OLIVEIRA (ANU FC), Babin PAUDYAL (Canberra Juventus), Mark SHIELDS (Canberra Olympic), Zac STEELE (Wagga City Wanderers)
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), Benjamin HADFIELD (ANU FC), Finn HARMER (Brindabella Blues), 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), Alasdair MOORE (ANU FC), Max MOTTL (ANU FC), Van NGUYEN (West Canberra Wanderers), Jacob OCHIENG (Wagga City Wanderers), Patrick O’ROURKE (Belconnen United), 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), Bailey SORENSON (Canberra Olympic), Ethan STAMATIS (West Canberra Wanderers), Liam VICKERS (West Canberra Wanderers), Oliver WIEDERKEHR (Canberra Olympic), Riley WILLIAMS (Brindabella Blues), Oliver WIRTZENS (Brindabella Blues), Kyle YEATES (Wagga City Wanderers)
