Sam Brown emerged as the hero for the second time in three weeks as the Canberra Croatia goalkeeper saved from O’Connor Knights Harrison Palic to seal an epic 6-5 penalty shoot-out victory in the National Premier League Grand Final after the Croatian derby ended all-square at 1-1 after extra time.
Brown beat away Palic’s strike, the fourteenth penalty of the shoot-out, to secure the victory, immediately after Tony Spaseski held his nerve to set-up the potential match-winning moment.
It was harsh on Palic, the marauding Knights full-back who had opened the scoring in the seventeenth minute. Niko Kresic won a tackle in midfield and fed Aisosa Ihegie who found Palic on the overlap. Cutting inside Palic squeezed his finish underneath Brown at the near post to give the League Champions the lead.
Canberra Croatia would argue they should have been ahead by then, Lukman Ahmed-Shaibu scooping over from close range under pressure from Palic. The American striker was to make amends just past the half-hour however when he levelled the scores with his sixteenth goal of the season.
Daniel Colbertaldo was the creator-in-chief, his delightfully flighted ball from the left-flank arcing into perfection where Ahmed-Shaibu met it with a forceful downward header that flew past Seb Arranz in the Knights goal.
Ahmed-Shaibu would strike the post in the second-half, and was foiled by Arranz on another occasion, the Knights custodian going on to win the Valeri Medal for a Player of the Match performance during which he made three top-class saves to preserve the Knights involvement.
Colbertaldo saw a fierce drive pushed over the bar, and Argentine forward Franc Greco had a glorious chance to win it late on, scampering clear of the O’Connor defence but seeing his effort blocked by Arranz.
It was far from one way traffic with the Knights themselves having some more than presentable openings even before the match entered the extra half-an-hour. Ihegie was foiled by Sam Brown diving at his feet, the rebound from Phakedi Manda blocked, before Michael Piccolo made a stunning recovery tackle to foil Micheal Adams.
With nothing separating the teams at the end of the 120 minutes penalties were required to settle the occasion. After Stephen Domenici and Ryan Keir had scored for Croatia, Patrick O’Rourke replying kind, Tyson Livermore sent his spot-kick wide of the post.
Keegan Vucetic struck the underside of the crossbar with Croatia’s fourth attempt, after successful conversions from Ahmed-Shaibu for Croatia and Lachlan Fields and James Driscoll for O’Connor.
That set up a sudden death scenario as Daniel Subasic, Ihegie, substitute Noah Vanderpol, and Kresic all netted. Spaseski was next up and, after he confidently rolled the ball home, it was left for Brown to snatch his moment and secure Grand Final glory for the perennial trophy-hunters,
RESULTS
GRAND FINAL
Saturday 23 September
O’Connor Knights 1 (Palic 17’) Canberra Croatia 1 (Ahmed-Shaibu 34’) – after extra time, Canberra Croatia won 6-5 on penalties
O’Connor Knights: 30. Seb ARRANZ, 3. Lachlan FIELDS, 5. Aisosa IHEGIE, 6. Connor BILL, 7. Regan WALSH (10. Patrick O’ROURKE 60’), 8. Daniel ROBERTS, 9. Micheal ADAMS (22. Harry MARTIN 96’), 11. Phakedi MANDA (Tyson LIVERMORE 96’), 13. Harrison PALIC, 18. James DRISCOLL, 21, Niko KRESIC
Substitutes not used: 12. Kristian TOKIC, 15. 18. Logan BROWNING
Canberra Croatia: 1. Sam BROWN, 2. Marco GAYER (15. David SESLEJA 55’), 3. Daniel COLBERTALDO (11. Keegan VUCETIC 96’), 6. Ryan KEIR, 10. Lukman AHMED-SHAIBU, 14. Daniel SUBASIC, 18. Franc GRECO (13. Nick PRATEZINA 110’), 19. Tony SPASESKI, 20. Michael PICCOLO (9. Noah VANDERPOL 72’), 21. Stephen DOMENICI, 24. Daniel SPARROW
Substitutes not used: 23. Jason MATESA
Match Officials: Alex MCCONACHIE (Referee), Owen GOLDRICK (Assistant Referee 1), Thomas GELLATLY (Assistant Referee 2), Declan WOODS (Fourth Official)
Discipline: YELLOW CARDS: 2. Marco GAYER, 3. Daniel COLBERTALDO, 14. Daniel SUBASIC, 18. Franc GRECO, 19. Tony SPASESKI, AC: Andy RAKIC (Canberra Croatia), 5. Aisosa IHEGIE, 6. Connor BILL, 8. Daniel ROBERTS, AC: Davor NEMET (O’Connor Knights)
RED CARDS: None
Player of the Match (Valeri Medal): 30. Seb ARRANZ (O’Connor Knights)
