Gungahlin United were in ruthless form at the Australian Institute of Sport as they raced to the top of the National Premier League table with a demolition of visiting Yoogali SC by nine goals to nil. The Gunners could even afford to be profligate from a penalty, Michael De Paoli saving from Lukman Ahmed-Shaibu.
That was one of three spot-kicks awarded to the home team during the ninety minutes, Ahmed-Shaibu converting the first in the ninth minute to make it 2-0, whilst Jeremy Habtemariam coolly slotted his opportunity in the second-half as Yoogali, reduced to ten men after the dismissal of defender Luke Pandolfo, were torn asunder.
The damage began as early as the fourth minute, a looping ball from Christian Junna met with an adroit volley from Shandon Whitehead that opened the floodgates, the left-back enjoying the freedom afforded by a move forward into midfield as Gungahlin altered their shape.
Having not scored for three matches, the home team suddenly could not stop, and they had bagged four by the half-time break. After Ahmed-Shaibu had struck from the spot, Romeo brilliantly lobbed a third, and Whitehead mirrored that with his second four minutes before the whistle.
There was little let-up after the resumption. Daniel Olaoye reacted quickest to a loose ball to poke home the fifth, Augustine Bangura got in on the act with the first of his brace, scoring either side of Habtemariam’s penalty and a goal from the bench from the returning Michael Katsoulis.
Aiden Munford in the home goal had little to do but did save well from Robert Rimmer when the Yoogali midfield mad burst forward in the first-half, whilst Yoogali substitute Axel Garbin found the side-netting late on, Olaoye also hitting the post for the Gunners in reply.
Atiya Waraga struck a derby day hat-trick as Canberra Croatia’s young guns did the damage inflicting just a second loss on O’Connor Knights in thirty-one matches in all competitions and opening the title race wide open with no fewer than five teams separated by just two points after a 4-2 win at O’Connor Enclosed.
The Croatia striker was in the right place to net his first two goals before completing the first treble of his senior National Premier League career in stunning style, unleashing a left-footed thunderbolt that lanced past Knights’ stopper Seb Arranz in the final minute, quelling any hopes of a Knights turnaround.
Waraga’s third finally stymied the Knights who had reduced a three-goal deficit to just one with a comeback of resilience and grit, making it a nervy ending to a contest in which Dean Ugrinic’s team had come out of the blocks with a high-pressing, fast-paced tempo.
It took the visitors a mere forty-five seconds to hit the front to delight the away support. Daniel Barac swept a pass wide to Daniel Sparrow who sprinted past Regan Walsh and squared into a packed area. Barac got a flick on it, and the ball rolled kindly for Nick Pratezina who had the simple task of tucking home at the back post, his sixth of the campaign.
The second goal arrived ten minutes before the break, and was a similar finish to the first, Waraga following up to tap into an empty net after Arranz had denied Barac with a decent save following a slick move. But that was a mere prelude to the third of the afternoon, scored on the hour.
Six different players touched the ball in the build-up, culminating in a Barac back-heel to Michael Piccolo who squared for Waraga to steer home from close range. It was a stunning team goal and one that appeared to have settled the points.
And yet the Knights weren’t done. A goalmouth ricochet went in off Croatia defender Tony Spaseski to reduce the arrears with twenty-two minutes to play, and when Kristian Tokic, on as a half-time substitute, rose highest to head home three minutes later, it was suddenly game on.
Waraga was to have the last word though, taking on the Knights defence and unleashing his left-foot Exocet from twenty-five metres into the top corner to win it for Croatia in magnificent style.
League leaders Monaro Panthers saw their grip on top-spot wrenched from their grasp by a ruthless and hungry Tigers FC who roared to a 4-0 victory at the Australian Institute of Sport, a result that could have been more but for a missed penalty from striker Nikos Kalfas and a disallowed goal from defender Marko Milutinovic.
Kalfas was to have better luck in front of goal earlier in the afternoon as he put the home side in front after just ten minutes. The Greek forward was inadvertently sent through on goal by an errant Panthers pass, and Kalfas took his time to take the ball away from goalkeeper Finn Jurak and slam into the back of the net.
The Panthers, wearing an unfamiliar pink and white kit, seemed to be having trouble locating each other and another loose pass allowed the Tigers to increase their lead moments later, Kalfas turning provider with a pass to Joshua Milicevic that allowed the midfielder to run at a back-pedalling defence and smash an effort past Jurak at his near post.
Worse was to come for the visiting team as Kalfas made it three before the break, twisting Dylan Deep-Jones inside and out before leathering a finish into the net, and the forward passed up a first-half hat-trick when he was denied from the penalty spot moments later.
Panthers needed the sanctuary of the changing room but were unable to get back into the contest in the second-half and were once again punished for a defensive lapse as Tigers sealed the points. Milicevic robbed Deep-Jones on the edge of his own area and dinked a cute finish over Jurak as Tigers confirmed their title credentials.
A solitary goal from Steve Nealon proved enough for Tuggeranong United to get back to winning ways, and to keep on the coattails of those above, as the Southsiders saw off Canberra Olympic, back under the leadership or Robbie Cattanach following the resignation of Victor Yanes, 1-0 at Kambah 2.
United have had the wood over Olympic recently and are now undefeated in their last four encounters between the clubs, following this latest success given to them by a teenage striker who is building a steady reputation as a proper talent in the Capital Football NPL.
Nealon took his goal expertly well, running onto a Matt Williams through-ball from a move that began with a goal-kick at the other end of the pitch. It was Nealon’s second goal in three matches for Tuggeranong since his mid-season transfer.
Olympic had a glorious chance to level only moments after the restart however when they were awarded a penalty after Stephen Domenici was adjudged to have been upended inside the area by Daniel Grove. Tuggeranong custodian Callum Cook was equal to the task though, plunging low to his left to beat away the spot-kick.
The visitors had hit the woodwork at the beginning of the second-half, defender Nicholas Subasic seeing his thumping drive clatter back off the upright, but they were unable to find a way past the resolute Tuggeranong defence and the home side claimed three valuable points in their chase for the top four.
RESULTS
ROUND 11
Saturday 22 June
O’Connor Knights 2 (Spaseski 68’ (og), Tokic 71’) Canberra Croatia 4 (Pratezina 1’, Waraga 35’, 60’, 90’)
Tigers FC 4 (Kalfas 10’, 43’, Milicevic 13’, 55’) Monaro Panthers 0
Sunday 23 June
Gungahlin United 9 (Whitehead 4’, 41’, Ahmed-Shaibu 9’ (p), Romeo 27’, Olaoye 54’, Bangura 60’, 85’, Habtemariam 77’ (p), Katsoulis 75’) Yoogali SC 0
Tuggeranong United 1 (Nealon 77’) Canberra Olympic 0
TABLE
| P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | ||
| 1 | Gungahlin United* | 11 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 30 | 13 | +17 | 22 |
| 2 | Tigers FC** | 10 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 26 | 8 | +18 | 21 |
| 3 | Canberra Croatia | 11 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 25 | 16 | +9 | 20 |
| 4 | Monaro Panthers | 11 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 19 | 11 | +8 | 20 |
| 5 | O’Connor Knights | 10 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 18 | 13 | +5 | 20 |
| 6 | Tuggeranong United | 11 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 17 | 22 | -5 | 14 |
| 7 | Canberra Olympic | 11 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 19 | 30 | -11 | 6 |
| 8 | Yoogali SC | 11 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 7 | 47 | -40 | 0 |
TOP SCORERS
14: Lukman AHMED-SHAIBU (Gungahlin United)
6: Nick PRATEZINA (Canberra Croatia), Roko STRIKA (Monaro Panthers)
5: Luca FLOREZ (Canberra Olympic), Archie MCGREGOR (Tigers FC), Atiya WARAGA (Canberra Croatia)
4: Micheal ADAMS (O’Connor Knights), Augustine BANGURA (Gungahlin United), Daniel BARAC (Canberra Croatia), Ben BASSER-SILK (Monaro Panthers), Jenno CERUTI (Monaro Panthers), Aisosa IHEGIE (O’Connor Knights), Davaadelger OKTYABRI (Tuggeranong United), Own GOALS
3: Stephen DOMENICI (Canberra Olympic), Alen JAMES (Canberra Olympic/O’Connor Knights), Nikos KALFAS (Tigers FC), Michael KATSOULIS (Gungahlin United), Amilio KISTA (Tigers FC), Niko KRESIC (O’Connor Knights), Sam WALKER (Tuggeranong United), Shandon WHITEHEAD (Gungahlin United)
2: Joshua DE ROSSI (Yoogali SC), Nic EMANUEL (Tuggeranong United), Jeremy HABTEMARIAM (Gungahlin United), Michael JOHN (Canberra Olympic), Tyson LIVERMORE (Monaro Panthers), Joshua MILICEVIC (Tigers FC), Steve NEALON (Tuggeranong United), Tomohiro OGAWA (Tigers FC), Daniel OLAOYE (Gungahlin United), Jackson PAESLER (O’Connor Knights), Joshua PEDERSEN (Tuggeranong United), Niko PERINOVIC (O’Connor Knights), Michael PICCOLO (Canberra Croatia), Jordan REZEK (Tuggeranong United), ROMEO (Gungahlin United), Daniel SPARROW (Canberra Croatia), Daniel SUBASIC (Canberra Croatia), Nik TANESKI (Tigers FC), Harry TRUMAN (Canberra Olympic)
1: Jack BITANI (Tigers FC), Samson CARR (Tigers FC), Izach CLEMENTS (Canberra Olympic), Elie DARWICH (Canberra Olympic), Adam DE FRANCESCHI (Monaro Panthers), Axel GARBIN (Yoogali SC), Jack GREEN (Gungahlin United), Marley JACKSON (Tigers FC), Thomas JAMES (Canberra Croatia), Christopher JOHN (Yoogali SC), Chirstian KRESKAS (Monaro Panthers), Jack LEVERETT (Tuggeranong United), Zac MCLAREN (Monaro Panthers), Marko MILUTINOVIC (Tigers FC), Shinzaburo NAKAYAMA (Canberra Olympic), Alessandro PENA (Tigers FC), Euan PETERKIN (Tuggeranong United), Sam ROESTBAKKEN (Canberra Olympic), David SESELJA (Canberra Croatia), Patrick SHORE (Canberra Olympic), Julian SMITH (Gungahlin United), Tony SPASESKI (Canberra Croatia), Kristian TOKIC (O’Connor Knights), Keegan VUCETIC (Canberra Croatia), Sam WHITHEAR (Tigers FC), 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
