Gungahlin United took a massive stride towards the National Premier League title, and officially only need one point to secure the crown, following an incident-packed 3-2 victory over O’Connor Knights at O’Connor Enclosed in a game that featured a brace of penalties, and one of the great NPL goals.
The game was only fourteen minutes old when the Knights, the reigning Champions, took a sensational lead. After Daniel Olaoye had fired over from a couple of early opportunities for the visitors, it was opposite winger Phakedi Manda that showed everyone how to do it in some style.
If the build-up was simple, a long throw from Luke Dark the instigation, the execution was sensational. Manda controlled the ball on his chest and swivelled to hook an acrobatic volley that flashed over the head of Gunners goalkeeper Aiden Munford for a finish of exceptional quality.
That looked like it might be the goal that gave the Knights the lead heading into the interval, only for the game to swing on its head in the final five minutes of the opening half. Gungahlin’s equaliser was as nonchalant, as it was contentious. Jeremy Habtemariam equalising from the spot after he was adjudged to have been fouled by Sam Van Dooren.
Suddenly, Gunners were on the front foot, and they stunned the home side by taking the lead in first-half stoppage time. Antoni Timotheou, on the occasion of his 150th NPL appearance, sent over a corner into the area where Christian Junna stole in unmarked to nod in from close-range for his first goal of the season.
That gave Gunners the upper-hand, but the third goal was the most important and it came with sixty-eight minutes on the clock. Jack Green intercepted on the edge of his area and rampaged forward, exchanging passes with Habtemariam, to advance and finish with a sliding shot under the advancing Seb Arranz in off the base of the post.
The Knights would not go down without a fight, they aren’t wired that way, and fittingly they stormed onto the offensive. On another day Aisosa Ihegie might have scored a hat-trick, heading over from two presentable openings, whilst James Driscoll hammered a half-volley over the bar.
They finally found a way through deep into stoppage time, substitute Micheal Adams scoring from the spot after Manda was fouled, and an even later shout for another penalty was waved away, but it was not to be and Gungahlin celebrated a vital, and potentially title-winning, victory.
Tigers FC claimed a narrow, but important, 2-1 victory over Yoogali SC at the Australian Institute of Sport, two goals inside two minutes of each other allowing the home side to claim the points and cement their advantage in the top four as they increased their points lead over the Panthers ahead of Monaro’s fixture, ultimately securing a finals place.
The men from Griffith certainly made life difficult for the Tigers, indeed they might have been celebrating another point on their return interstate had Darren Bailey’s speculative effort from the edge of the centre-circle done more than cannon off the inside of Jakob Cole’s left-hand post.
By then all three goals that would be netted in the fixture had found the back of the net, with Tigers taking the 2-1 lead into the second-half following an entertaining half of football in front of the watching crowd.
Tigers went ahead in only the 22nd minute of the match via another penalty, off the back of being awarded two of them at the same venue a week earlier. This time it was Samson Carr who was adjudged to have been fouled, although Yoogali were adamant the ball had been won and there were few appeals from the Tigers. Nikos Kalfas knocked home the resultant spot-kick.
That knocked the confidence of the visitors who conceded again only two minutes later. Yoogali failed to properly clear a free-kick and when Samson Carr returned the ball across the six-yard box, Noah Steinacker was well-placed to sweep home from a couple of yards out.
Yoogali struck back before the half-time break with a beautifully executed goal. A brilliant build-up saw Bailey release Josh De Rossi and his low cross was turned home by French import Axel Garbin to reduce the arrears. After that came Bailey’s long-range effort that clattered the woodwork as Tigers held on for a big three points.
Canberra Croatia are still mathematically in with a chance of claiming the League title following their come from behind 3-2 victory over Canberra Olympic at Deakin Stadium but need a combination of a victory over Monaro Panthers at the Riverside Stadium and an eight-goal swing in their favour.
Whilst that might seem like a tall order, Croatia showed their fighting spirit here by digging deep to break Olympic hearts in a ‘Canberra Classico’ with a difference as the result means Olympic are potentially ninety-minutes away from relegation to the Capital Premier League, requiring a win against O’Connor Knights at the very least.
Here, they got off to a flier, showing what they can do on their day. The visitors hit the front in the 34th minute as Michael John rounded Sam Brown and squared for Sam Roestbakken who was upended by Sam Roestbakken allowing Sam Habtemariam to rifle the penalty into the roof of the net.
Suddenly there was belief and that was magnified as Olympic hit a second three minutes before the half-time break. John was at the heart of it again, squaring a pass to Bailey Sorensen with the midfielder then thrashing his first-time shot low and hard and into the bottom corner from distance.
Croatia needed a response and got it with the introduction of the outstanding Michael Piccolo. It was his prompt that created the first goal, an inch-perfect pass over the top of the defence allowing Atiya Waraga to square for Daniel Barac to tap into the net from almost on the line.
There was more to come as Piccolo was also involved in the equaliser scored with eleven minutes remaining. Tony Spaseski made inroads down the right flank and crossed for Piccolo who was able to lay the ball back into the path of Daniel Colbertaldo. His shot appeared to be heading wide but was diverted into the net by a telling touch from Barac.
And there was a winner with two minutes left on the clock, and some goal it was as well. From the back Ryan Keir, Piccolo and Waraga combined, allowing Waraga to drift pass a couple of challenges and find Nick Pratezina on the opposite flank. Pratezina passed inside to Piccolo who provided a sublime flick behind the Olympic defence for the onrushing Barac to slide home, crush Olympic hearts, and keep Yoogali in pole position in the relegation fight.
Monaro Panthers season is over after they failed to get the win they needed at Kambah 2 to keep their finals hopes intact, Tuggeranong United moving to within three points of their opponents on the table courtesy of a 1-0 secured by yet another goal struck by teenage sensation Steve Nealon in the 80th minute.
The defeat left the Panthers five points adrift of the Tigers in fourth, meaning they cannot overhaul their fellow big cats, and in truth, they were second best for large parts of this encounter as Tuggeranong continued their excellent recent form, showing they could well become a real challenger for the top four next term.
Most of the action came in the second-half of the match, and most of it came in the general direction of Panthers’ goalkeeper Jacob Quinn’s goal. The Monaro stopper made two superb saves, denying Nealon and Bevan Foxall, the latter effort with his face to ensure parity.
Luke Stevens, on as a second-half substitute went closest, his twenty-five-metre free-kick cannoning back of the top of the crossbar, whilst the Panthers had sustained periods of pressure throughout but were unable to create any real clear-cut opportunities until close to the end of the match.
Seeking a goal to kill off the game, United were caught in transition and the ball found its way to Roko Strika in a presentable position but, uncharacteristically, the usually reliable hit-man hammered his shot well off target and over the bar.
By that stage the game had seen its only goal, and, from a Panthers viewpoint, it was an utter disaster. Quinn slipped taking a goal-kick allowing Stevens to nip in ahead of Dylan Deep-Jones, who was unaware of the impending danger lurking behind him. Stevens header found Nealon, and the young attacker rounded Quinn to slide home into the empty net for the matchwinner, his ninth goal of the season.
RESULTS
ROUND 20
Saturday 24 August
O’Connor Knights 2 (Manda 14’, Adams 90+3’ (p)) Gungahlin United 3 (Habtemariam 41’ (p), Junna 45+2’, Green 68’)
Tigers FC 2 (Kalfas 23’ (p), Steinacker 25’) Yoogali SC 1 (Garbin 44’)
Sunday 25 August
Canberra Croatia 3 (Barac 57’, 79’, 88’) Canberra Olympic 2 (Habtemariam 34’ (p), Sorensen 43’)
Tuggeranong United 1 (Nealon 80’) Monaro Panthers 0
TABLE
| P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | ||
| 1 | Gungahlin United* | 20 | 14 | 2 | 4 | 51 | 22 | +29 | 44 |
| 2 | Canberra Croatia | 20 | 13 | 2 | 5 | 49 | 28 | +21 | 41 |
| 3 | O’Connor Knights | 20 | 12 | 4 | 4 | 40 | 30 | +10 | 40 |
| 4 | Tigers FC** | 20 | 10 | 4 | 6 | 43 | 27 | +16 | 34 |
| 5 | Monaro Panthers | 20 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 32 | 23 | +9 | 29 |
| 6 | Tuggeranong United | 20 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 31 | 32 | -1 | 26 |
| 7 | Yoogali SC | 20 | 2 | 2 | 16 | 12 | 63 | -51 | 8 |
| 8 | Canberra Olympic | 20 | 2 | 0 | 18 | 23 | 56 | -33 | 6 |
TOP SCORERS
17: Lukman AHMED-SHAIBU (Gungahlin United)
13: Atiya WARAGA (Canberra Croatia)
11: Daniel BARAC (Canberra Croatia), 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), Michael KATSOULIS (Gungahlin United)
6: Augustine BANGURA (Gungahlin United), Nikos KALFAS (Tigers FC), Own GOALS
5: Jenno CERUTI (Monaro Panthers), Luca FLOREZ (Canberra Olympic), Archie MCGREGOR (Tigers FC), Nik TANESKI (Tigers FC), Keegan VUCETIC (Canberra Croatia), Sam WALKER (Tuggeranong United)
4: 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), Daniel OLAOYE (Gungahlin United), Jackson PAESLER (O’Connor Knights), Sam WHITHEAR (Tigers FC), Shandon WHITEHEAD (Gungahlin United)
3: Angus BAILEY (Tigers FC), Alen JAMES (Canberra Olympic/O’Connor Knights), Amilio KISTA (Tigers FC), Joshua MILICEVIC (Tigers FC), Tomohiro OGAWA (Tigers FC), Patrick O’ROURKE (O’Connor Knights), ROMEO (Gungahlin United), Daniel SPARROW (Canberra Croatia)
2: Nic EMANUEL (Tuggeranong United), Bevan FOXALL (Tuggeranong United), Axel GARBIN (Yoogali SC), Jack GREEN (Gungahlin United), Sam HABTEMARIAM (Canberra Olympic), Michael JOHN (Canberra Olympic), Tyson LIVERMORE (Monaro Panthers), Zac MCLAREN (Monaro Panthers), Joshua PEDERSEN (Tuggeranong United), Niko PERINOVIC (O’Connor Knights), Michael PICCOLO (Canberra Croatia), Jordan REZEK (Tuggeranong United), Tony SPASESKI (Canberra Croatia), Daniel SUBASIC (Canberra Croatia), Kristian TOKIC (O’Connor Knights), Harry TRUMAN (Canberra Olympic)
1: Darren BAILEY (Yoogali SC), Jack BITANI (Tigers FC), Samson CARR (Tigers FC), Izach CLEMENTS (Canberra Olympic), Elie DARWICH (Canberra Olympic), Adam DE FRANCESCHI (Monaro Panthers), 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), Marko MILUTINOVIC (Tigers FC), Patrick MITCHELL (Monaro Panthers), Shinzaburo NAKAYAMA (Canberra Olympic), Alessandro PENA (Tigers FC), Euan PETERKIN (Tuggeranong United), Joe PREECE (Yoogali SC), Nik POPOVICH (Tigers FC), Sam ROESTBAKKEN (Canberra Olympic), Vinnie SANCHEZ (O’Connor Knights), 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), Antoni TIMOTHOEU (Gungahlin United), Matt WILLIAMS (Tuggeranong United), Ryan ZANATTA (Yoogali SC)
*Gungahlin United deducted three points for field an ineligible player in the 3-0 win against Tigers FC
**Tigers FC awarded a 3-0 win, and three points, for Gungahlin United fielding an ineligible player
