Tuggeranong United achieved only their fourth victory in twenty-two National Premier League attempts against Canberra Croatia with a nerve-shredding 3-2 success at Greenway Enclosed.
A penalty, coolly converted twenty-five minutes from time by Davaadelger Oktyabri, sealed a remarkable United success, their first in five years, a stretch of seven NPL fixtures without a win against their opponents.
Tuggeranong was forced to come from behind, after Daniel Subasic looped a header into the net, the ball adjudged to have crossed the line before it was headed away, but they struck an equaliser only ten minutes later as Josh Pedersen took advantage of a mistake to power through and score.
A moment of magic from Sam Walker put the home team in front, the striker meeting a long throw that was inadvertently flicked on by a Croatia defender with an acrobatic overhead kick that went in off the post past Jason Matesa.
Nick Pratezina, on his first start of the season, levelled matters on the stroke of half-time with his fourth goal of the campaign to date, but it was Tuggeranong who would win it as Oktyabri kept his head to convert from the spot and send the home crowd into raptures.
O’Connor Knights took their unbeaten streak to twenty matches in all competitions as they withstood a spirited effort from Yoogali SC to claim a 3-0 victory at O’Connor Enclosed in a Round 4 NPL fixture that saw both teams end the match with ten men.
The Knights saw centre back Lachlan Fields dismissed for hauling back Mason Donadel, adjudged to have denied an obvious goalscoring opportunity, whilst opposite central defender Jacob Donadel followed for an alleged studs-up challenge on Luke Dark.
By then, the Knights had a one-goal lead given to them by winger Jackson Paesler on his NPL debut for the hosts. Harrison Palic created it with a run down the right wing and a cross that found Paesler unmarked at the back post. He took one touch to control and one to last a finish past Michael De Paoli in the Yoogali goal.
De Paoli later made a stunning one-handed save to deny Dark a goal on his return to NPL action, but the Knights had already beaten the Yoogali stopper again by then, substitute Niko Perinovic repeating his feat of a week earlier by competently controlling and despatching a low cross with four minutes remaining on the clock.
There was still time for one more, striker Aisosa Ihegie controlling the ball inside the penalty area, before swivelling and crashing home his third goal of the season in the league, and fifth in all competitions.
Over at the AIS, it was Tigers FC who were left celebrating as their young guns took centre-stage in a 3-1 win over Canberra Olympic, a result that saw the Tigers move up into third place ahead of the pair of matches that were scheduled to take place on Sunday afternoon.
The first two goals of the match had a similar feel. Angus Pitkin took centre stage, pinging a delicious Crossfield pass into the path of the hard-running Archie McGregor, the forward cutting in, then out, to rifle a low effort underneath and away from Sebastian Usai in the Olympic goal.
Pitkin’s rage of passing was on display again seven minutes later, his raking ball into a similar channel finding McGregor again. This time the forward held it up, before laying off a pass to marauding full-back Samson Carr who thrashed a shot into almost the exact spot that McGregor had done previously.
There was a third for the Tigers in the second-half and a maiden senior goal for substitute Jack Bitani. Nikos Kalfas and Bitani exchanged passes, the youngster then taking aim from twenty-five metres on the angle to hammer an exquisite strike full of venom past Usai. Some way to introduce yourself on debut.
Olympic netted a tidy response, Patrick Shore supplying the pass for Sam Roestbakken to crack home a first-time shot from just inside the area, but it was scant consolation for the defeated visitors.
A single goal was enough for Gungahlin United to overcome Monaro Panthers in a tense encounter that ended with the Gunners reeling off their fourth successive victory of the season, the 1-0 win giving them a three-point cushion over the Knights who have a game in hand.
The key moment arrived just five minutes from the interval as Augustine Bangura forced a finish past Finn Jurak, playing his 50th NPL match, at the second attempt after being teed up by Lukman Ahmed-Shaibu who pounced on a moment’s hesitation to punish the visitors.
Both teams had chances which were repelled by the respective goalkeepers as Aidan Munford saved wonderfully with his legs whilst Jurak pulled off two magnificent stops to keep the Panthers in the contest.
And whilst opportunities to score were limited, this was by no means a dour affair, two evenly matched outfits attacking at will but unable to break down solid rearguards. Jermey Habtemariam was inspired for Gungahlin, Shandon Whitehead defended superbly, but it was Bangura who would steal the headlines.
RESULTS
ROUND 4
Saturday 27 April
Tigers FC 3 (McGregor 22’, Carr 29’, Bitani 74’) Canberra Olympic 1 (Roestbakken 79’)
O’Connor Knights 3 (Paesler 27’, Perinovic 86’, Ihegie 90+6’) Yoogali SC 0
Sunday 28 April
Tuggeranong United 3 (Pedersen 24’, Walker 41’, Oktyabri 65’ (p)) Canberra Croatia 2 (Subasic 14’, Pratezina 45’)
Gungahlin United 1 (Bangura 40’) Monaro Panthers 0
TABLE
| P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | ||
| 1 | Gungahlin United | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 4 | +10 | 12 |
| 2 | O’Connor Knights | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 2 | +5 | 9 |
| 3 | Tigers FC | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 2 | +6 | 7 |
| 4 | Monaro Panthers | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 3 | +3 | 6 |
| 5 | Canberra Croatia | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 4 |
| 6 | Canberra Olympic | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 11 | -1 | 3 |
| 7 | Tuggeranong United | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 13 | -9 | 3 |
| 8 | Yoogali SC | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 15 | -13 | 0 |
TOP SCORERS
8: Lukman AHMED-SHAIBU (Gungahlin United)
4: Nick PRATEZINA (Canberra Croatia)
3: Aisosa IHEGIE (O’Connor Knights)
2: Jenno CERUTI (Monaro Panthers), Luca FLOREZ (Canberra Olympic), Alen JAMES (Canberra Olympic), Michael KATSOULIS (Gungahlin United), Davaadelger OKTYABRI (Tuggeranong United), Niko PERINOVIC (O’Connor Knights), Roko STRIKA (Monaro Panthers), Nik TANESKI (Tigers FC), Own GOALS
1: Micheal ADAMS (O’Connor Knights), Augustine BANGURA (Gungahlin United), Ben BASSER-SILK (Monaro Panthers),Jack BITANI (Tigers FC), Samson CARR (Tigers FC), Elie DARWICH (Canberra Olympic), Adam DE FRANCESCHI (Monaro Panthers), Joshua DE ROSSI (Yoogali SC), Thomas JAMES (Canberra Croatia), Michael JOHN (Canberra Olympic), Nikos KALFAS (Tigers FC), Amilio KISTA (Tigers FC), Archie MCGREGOR (Tigers FC), Marko MILUTINOVIC (Tigers FC), Shinzaburo NAKAYAMA (Canberra Olympic), Daniel OLAOYE (Gungahlin United), Jackson PAESLER (O’Connor Knights), Joshua PEDERSEN (Tuggeranong United), Michael PICCOLO (Canberra Croatia), Sam ROESTBAKKEN (Canberra Olympic), David SESELJA (Canberra Croatia), Patrick SHORE (Canberra Olympic), Julian SMITH (Gungahlin United), Daniel SUBASIC (Canberra Croatia), Harry TRUMAN (Canberra Olympic), Keegan VUCETIC (Canberra Croatia), Sam WALKER (Tuggeranong United)
