Canberra Croatia edged their way into the National Premier League Grand Final with an exhilarating Qualification Final penalty shoot-out win against Gungahlin United at the Riverside Stadium in Queanbeyan as Sam Brown saved one, and netted the winner from the spot, after the match had ended 1-1.
Gungahlin stopper Aiden Munford looked edgy in the early stages and was charged down twice by Daniel Sparrow as Croatia began brightly, monopolising possession and territory without overtly threatening the Gunners goal.
Augustine Bangura had the best chance of the opening forty-five minutes, the Gungahlin forward finding himself free, and unmarked, inside the six-yard box and the centre of the goal following some excellent approach work from fellow forward Daniel Olaoye.
Somehow, with the goal gaping, Bangura struck his effort with too much power and the ball ballooned up and over the crossbar much to the disbelief of the men clad in black and white stripes and their supporters.
Gungahlin nearly made the breakthrough early in the second-half as striker Daniel Olaoye was freed in behind the defence via a defence-splitting pass from Antoni Timotheou but dragged his shot wide of the post. He was to make amends shortly afterwards.
A precise pass over the top set the English winger free and, on his left-foot, he steered a precise finish past Brown and into the bottom corner of the net. Croatia responded by getting back on the front foot and an inspired substitution from Dean Ugrinic paid almost instant dividends.
Sent on from the bench midfielder Keegan Vucetic was well-placed just inside the area to fire low and hard through a crowd of players with seventeen minutes remaining to level the scores.
Both teams thereafter had chances to win it, Daniel Barac striking the base of the post and inadvertently charging down an Atiya Waraga shot that might have troubled Munford, but neither could make the breakthrough and the match would be resolved via penalties.
After the first six were all successful, Waraga saw his shot saved by Munford, only for Romeo to be thwarted by Brown straightaway. Both Daniel Subasic and Shandon Whitehead scored, Brown bagging the fifth for Croatia, before Jack Green fired over the crossbar and Croatia advanced.
Gungahlin United will get a second bite of the cherry when they take on Tigers FC in the Preliminary Final after the Tigers ended O’Connor Knights season with a come-from-behind 3-1 success in the Elimination Final.
Three goals in a ten-minute second-half burst, including a stunner from halfway from Sam Whithear, enabled the Tigers to overturn a 0-1 half-time deficit and roar into the next phase of the competition despite a brave challenge from the Knights who went down with their head held high.
After a good Tigers start in which Nik Popovich placed wastefully wide when put in by a delightful pass from Tomohiro Ogawa, Nik Taneski saw a shot blocked by Seb Arranz in the Knights goal, and Marko Milutinovic blazed over from inside the area, it was O’Connor who hit the front.
Micheal Adams almost steered home a low Phakedi Manda cross under pressure from Milutinovic, the ball striking the upright, but Jackson Paesler had more success six minutes from the interval, controlling a high ball, cutting inside his marker and lashing a low shot into the bottom corner.
Tigers needed a spark to get themselves back into the contest and they got, and then some, just past the hour mark. There appeared to be no danger when the ball fell to Whithear just inside the Knights half, however the Tigers FC captain struck an incredible effort that sailed nearly fifty metres over the head of Arranz for one of the goals of the season.
There was more to come. After a delay due to an injury to Paesler, the match had barely restarted when Angus Bailey danced past a couple of challenges to hammer a fine finish past Arranz and give the Tigers the advantage.
Crucially, they were to bag a match-killing third with eighteen minutes to play. Taneski read the flight of a Nikos Kalfas flick on and casually rounded Arranz to roll an accurate finish back into the empty net and seal progress for the Tigers and end the Knights hopes of a repeat Grand Final appearance.
RESULTS
QUALIFICATION FINAL
Saturday 7 September
Gungahlin United 1 (Olaoye 52’) Canberra Croatia 1 (Vucetic 73’) – after extra time, Croatia win 5-4 on penalties
ELIMINATION FINAL
Saturday 7 September
O’Connor Knights 1 (Paesler 39’) Tigers FC 3 (Whithear 61’, Bailey 65’, Taneski 72’)
TOP SCORERS
17: Lukman AHMED-SHAIBU (Gungahlin United)
13: Atiya WARAGA (Canberra Croatia)
12: Daniel BARAC (Canberra Croatia)
11: Roko STRIKA (Monaro Panthers)
9: Steve NEALON (Tuggeranong United)
8: Micheal ADAMS (O’Connor Knights), Aisosa IHEGIE (O’Connor Knights), Nick PRATEZINA (Canberra Croatia)
7: Jeremy HABTEMARIAM (Gungahlin United), Nikos KALFAS (Tigers FC), Michael KATSOULIS (Gungahlin United)
6: Augustine BANGURA (Gungahlin United), Archie MCGREGOR (Tigers FC), Daniel OLAOYE (Gungahlin United), Nik TANESKI (Tigers FC), Keegan VUCETIC (Canberra Croatia), Own GOALS
5: Jenno CERUTI (Monaro Panthers), Luca FLOREZ (Canberra Olympic), Jackson PAESLER (O’Connor Knights), Sam WALKER (Tuggeranong United), Sam WHITHEAR (Tigers FC)
4: Angus BAILEY (Tigers FC), Ben BASSER-SILK (Monaro Panthers), Joshua DE ROSSI (Yoogali SC), Stephen DOMENICI (Canberra Olympic), Niko KRESIC (O’Connor Knights), Santiago LUPINO (Monaro Panthers), Phakedi MANDA (O’Connor Knights), Davaadelger OKTYABRI (Tuggeranong United), Patrick O’ROURKE (O’Connor Knights), Shandon WHITEHEAD (Gungahlin United)
3: Sam HABTEMARIAM (Canberra Olympic), Alen JAMES (Canberra Olympic/O’Connor Knights), Amilio KISTA (Tigers FC), Joshua MILICEVIC (Tigers FC), Tomohiro OGAWA (Tigers FC), ROMEO (Gungahlin United), Daniel SPARROW (Canberra Croatia), Antoni TIMOTHOEU (Gungahlin United), Kristian TOKIC (O’Connor Knights)
2: Darren BAILEY (Yoogali SC), Adam DE FRANCESCHI (Monaro Panthers), Nic EMANUEL (Tuggeranong United), Bevan FOXALL (Tuggeranong United), Axel GARBIN (Yoogali SC), Jack GREEN (Gungahlin United), Michael JOHN (Canberra Olympic), Tyson LIVERMORE (Monaro Panthers), Zac MCLAREN (Monaro Panthers), Adam NEOU (Canberra Olympic), Joshua PEDERSEN (Tuggeranong United), Niko PERINOVIC (O’Connor Knights), Michael PICCOLO (Canberra Croatia), Jordan REZEK (Tuggeranong United), Vinnie SANCHEZ (O’Connor Knights), Tony SPASESKI (Canberra Croatia), Daniel SUBASIC (Canberra Croatia), Harry TRUMAN (Canberra Olympic)
1: Jack BITANI (Tigers FC), Samson CARR (Tigers FC), Izach CLEMENTS (Canberra Olympic), Daniel COLBERTALDO (Canberra Croatia), Elie DARWICH (Canberra Olympic), Xabier DAVIES (Canberra Olympic), James DRISCOLL (O’Connor Knights), Lachlan FIELDS (O’Connor Knights), Marley JACKSON (Tigers FC), Thomas JAMES (Canberra Croatia), Christopher JOHN (Yoogali SC), Christian JUNNA (Gungahlin United), Ryan KEIR (Canberra Croatia), Chirstian KRESKAS (Monaro Panthers), Zac LAWRENCE (Tuggeranong United), Jack LEVERETT (Tuggeranong United), William MCCLOSKEY (Gungahlin United), Marko MILUTINOVIC (Tigers FC), Patrick MITCHELL (Monaro Panthers), Luciano MONSERRAT (Yoogali SC), Shinzaburo NAKAYAMA (Canberra Olympic), Alessandro PENA (Tigers FC), Euan PETERKIN (Tuggeranong United), Joe PREECE (Yoogali SC), Nik POPOVICH (Tigers FC), Sam ROESTBAKKEN (Canberra Olympic), David SESELJA (Canberra Croatia), Patrick SHORE (Canberra Olympic), Julian SMITH (Gungahlin United), Bailey SORENSEN (Canberra Olympic), Michael SOUTHAM (Tigers FC), Noah STEINACKER (Tigers FC), Luke STEVENS (Tuggeranong United), Matt WILLIAMS (Tuggeranong United), Ryan ZANATTA (Yoogali SC)
