Goalkeeper Adam Stevens saved two penalties as Tuggeranong United held title-chasing Canberra Olympic to a 2-2 draw at O’Connor Enclosed to move onto four points and create a cushion ahead of bottom club West Canberra Wanderers, ensconced in the relegation zone.
The United custodian stood strong twice, firstly denying Thomas James from the spot, and then saving from Nik Popovich, only for Alen James to react fastest, reaching the ball before the defence, to slot into the net.
That goal put Olympic 2-1 ahead after they had got off to a great start as Popovich ghosted in behind the Tuggeranong defence to slide a finish past Stevens in goal, only for the visitors to level three minutes later when Sam Walker confidently finished from a penalty for his fourth of the campaign.
United drew level for a second time in the 33rd minute as Luke Stevens arrived unchecked at the back post to sweep home a cross beyond Sebastian Usai, a goal that ultimately earned them what might be a crucial point.
West Canberra Wanderers suffered late heartbreak as a double from substitute Noah Vanderpol helped Canberra Croatia to a 4-2 win at Melrose Synthetic, a result that allows the Australia Cup Round of 32 representatives to keep in touch with the top four and a potential finals place.
There was a sense of relief as the League Champions broke down a stubborn Wanderers defence with five minutes to play as Lukman Ahmed-Shaibu found Vanderpol in front of goal and the young forward steered home.
Vanderpol sealed the result three minutes later, sitting down Kristian Nel in the home goal to confidently strike home the fourth, but Wanderers will be aggrieved they weren’t able to hold onto the point that looked within their grasp after Joshua Young had powered home a 56th minute header.
That added to Harry Truman’s expertly taken first equaliser, the Wanderers striker finishing well to cancel out Daniel Barac’s header. An Ahmed-Shaibu free-kick in first-half stoppage time edged Croatia ahead, but Wanderers were back on terms before Vanderpol saved the day.
The dismissal of goalkeeper Jamie-Lee Guo after only four minutes left Gungahlin United up against it as they welcomed Tigers FC to the Australian Institute of Sport, only for two goals in the space of three minutes allow the ten-men to overturn an early deficit to claim a sensational 2-1 victory.
Joshua Gulevski was the man hauled down by Guo, after the disposed the Gunners number one and was certain to score, the Tigers hit-man lashing in the resulting free-kick for his tenth goal of the campaign.
Tigers were unable to build on that though as debutant ‘keeper Noah Cross, on for Misko Naumoski, was relatively untroubled enjoying a solid hit-out after the initial shock of picking the ball out of his net with his first touch.
A sublime hit from Tom McLachlan levelled matters, the midfielder thumping an effort from outside the box that flashed past Jakob Cole in the Tigers net in the 32nd minute, only for that goal to be bettered moments later as Josh Gaspari put Gunners ahead with a quite magnificent free-kick.
At the Riverside Stadium it was a penalty that settled the destination of the points as Micheal Adams confidently sent goalkeeper Joran Thurtell the wrong way as O’Connor Knights claimed an important 1-0 win over the Monaro Panthers.
Adams was the beneficiary after Aisosa Ihegie was upended inside the penalty area at the end of a lung-bursting, and typically penetrative run, there being little doubt that a spot-kick would be the outcome.
Knights were reduced to ten-men for the last half-hour as centre-back Connor Bill was dismissed for a second bookable offence, but Monaro struggled to break down a disciplined and well organised Knights outfit.
Roko Strika hit the post with a header for the Panthers following a Gabe Cole corner, whilst Thurtell was forced to make a decent save from close range as Adams and Niko Kresic tip-toed their way through the Panthers defence, but in the end it was Adams dead-eyed accuracy that was the difference.
RESULTS
ROUND 10
Saturday 17 June
West Canberra Wanderers 2 (Truman 37’, Young 56’) Canberra Croatia 4 (Barac 11’, Ahmed-Shaibu 45+3’, Vanderpol 85’, 88’)
Canberra Olympic 2 (Popovich 11’, A. James 24’) Tuggeranong United 2 (Walker 14’ (p), Stevens 33’)
Gungahlin United 2 (McLachlan 32’, Gaspari 35’) Tigers FC 1 (Gulevski 6’)
Monaro Panthers 0 O’Connor Knights 1 (Adams 21’ (p))
TABLE
| P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | ||
| 1 | Tigers FC | 10 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 34 | 20 | +14 | 22 |
| 2 | Canberra Olympic | 10 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 26 | 14 | +12 | 22 |
| 3 | Gungahlin United | 10 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 32 | 21 | +11 | 20 |
| 4 | O’Connor Knights | 10 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 22 | 11 | +11 | 20 |
| 5 | Monaro Panthers | 10 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 18 | 14 | +4 | 15 |
| 6 | Canberra Croatia | 10 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 22 | 17 | +5 | 12 |
| 7 | Tuggeranong United | 10 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 11 | 33 | -22 | 4 |
| 8 | West Canberra Wanderers | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 7 | 42 | -35 | 0 |
TOP SCORERS
10 Maxx GREEN (Gungahlin United), Josh GULEVSKI (Tigers FC)
8 Nik POPOVICH (Canberra Olympic), Roko STRIKA (Monaro Panthers)
7 Josh GASPARI (Gungahlin United)
6 Lukman AHMED-SHAIBU (Canberra Croatia), Nik TANESKI (Tigers FC), Own GOALS
5 Micheal ADAMS (O’Connor Knights), Luca FLOREZ (Canberra Olympic), Amilio KISTA (Tigers FC), Connor MYNOTT-SMITH (Monaro Panthers)
4 Thomas JAMES (Canberra Olympic), Phakedi MANDA (O’Connor Knights), Patrick O’ROURKE (O’Connor Knights), Sam WALKER (Tuggeranong United)
3 Daniel BARAC (Canberra Croatia), Philippe BERNABO-MADRID (Gungahlin United), Stephen DOMENICI (Canberra Croatia), Micheal JOHN (Monaro Panthers), Clancy HISLOP (Tuggeranong United), Luke STEVENS (Tuggeranong United), Jason UGRINIC (Canberra Croatia)
2 Riley ANGELOSANTE (O’Connor Knights), FERNANDO Jorquera (Gungahlin United), Jack GREEN (Gungahlin United), Aisosa IHEGIE (O’Connor Knights), Alen JAMES (Canberra Olympic), Ed MCCARTHY (Tigers FC), Tom MCLACHLAN (Gungahlin United), Nathen MEGIC (Canberra Olympic), Kaz PATAFTA (Canberra Croatia), Noah VANDERPOL (Canberra Croatia), Sam WHITHEAR (Tigers FC)
1 Badreldin ABBAS (Gungahlin United), Connor BILL (O’Connor Knights), Jake BISHOP (Tigers FC), Julian BORGNA (Tigers FC), Riley BROWN (West Canberra Wanderers), Kofi DANNING (Canberra Olympic), Elie DARWICH (Canberra Olympic), Dylan DEEP-JONES (Monaro Panthers), James DRISCOLL (O’Connor Knights), Dom GIAMPAOLO (Gungahlin United), Sam HABTEMARIAM (Gungahlin United), Nikos KALFAS (Tigers FC), Niko KRESIC (O’Connor Knights), Tony MADAFFARI (Tigers FC), Archie MCGREGOR (Monaro Panthers), Max MELLICK (Canberra Olympic), Marko MILUTINOVIC (Tigers FC), Tomohiro OGAWA (Tigers FC), Lasse OLRIK (Canberra Olympic), Jackson PAESLER (Gungahlin United), Euan PETERKIN (Tuggeranong United), Jayden RIPPON (West Canberra Wanderers), Nicholas ROUFOGALIS (West Canberra Wanderers), Kyle SENIOR (Tigers FC), David SESELJA (Canberra Croatia), Daniel SPARROW (Canberra Croatia), Callum SMITH (Canberra Olympic), Hristjan TANOSKI (Tigers FC), Antoni TIMOTHEOU (Gungahlin United), Harry TRUMAN (West Canberra Wanderers), Liam VICKERS (West Canberra Wanderers), Joshua YOUNG (West Canberra Wanderers)
