A goal fifteen seconds from the full-time whistle enabled Monaro Panthers to rack up a first win of the National Premier League under-23 league with a 2-1 away win over Canberra Croatia at Deakin Stadium.
Mitchell Jervis-Hamilton had given Monaro the lead in the contest after eighteen minutes of play, only to see that advantage wiped out as James Godding equalised for the home team ten minutes later.
A draw seemed almost certain until, with the seconds ticking away and the last attack of the match, Ayham Nasser was released in behind the Croatia defence and, keeping his composure, slid a wonderful finish under the advancing goalkeeper to send the travelling Panthers wild.
Tigers FC remained top of the competition as they secured a second big win of the season over Yoogali SC coming away from the match at the Australian Institute of Sport with a 7-2 success.
The destination of the points was never in doubt from the moment that Cooper Heagney opened the scoring on three minutes, the league’s leading scorer helping himself to a second later in the half.
In between those goals Elliot Alberto had claimed a double of his own, Kaide Castle’s response before half-time reducing the arrears but not doing anything to change the shape of the fixture.
Castle was to score a second later in the match, but a double from half-time substitute Sachary Ilijoski, who now has five goals in the division in 2025, and a late finish from substitute Ahmed Mubaideen, completed a fine win.
Tuggeranong United edged into second place ahead of the Sunday matches as they came away from High Street with a comfortable 4-0 win over bottom-of-the-table Queanbeyan City.
City held United at bay for large parts of the match but once Anthony Antoniak had opened the scoring a minute before the half-time break, the outcome was not really in doubt.
A second from Antoniak, and a first of a double from Leo Donald, five minutes into the second-half put United clear, Donald’s second taking both him and Antoniak to half-a-dozen goals each this term.
O’Connor Knights eased to a firth win of the season, and second place on the league ladder, with a 4-1 victory over Gungahlin United at Gungahlin Enclosed Oval on a cold Sunday afternoon.
The visitors were ahead after a quarter of an hour as Mark o Rathouski opened the scoring, but they had to wait until a minute into the second-half to increase the advantage as Rathouski scored again, his fourth goal of the season in the opening six matches.
Niko Perinovic gave the Knights a three-goal cushion in the 67th minute, before Sebastian Munoz pulled one back for the Gunners two minutes later. There was to be no miraculous comeback though as Daniel Galic made it 4-1 with thirteen minutes to play.
RESULTS
ROUND 6
Saturday 17 May
Tigers FC 7 (Heagney 3’, 32’, Alberto 20’, 23’, Ilijoski 62’, 90’, Mubaideen 88’) Yoogali SC 2 (Castle 34’, 61’)
Queanbeyan City 0 Tuggeranong United 4 (Antoniak 44’, 47’, Donald 50’, 73’)
Sunday 18 May
Gungahlin United 1 (Munoz 69’) O’Connor Knights 4 (Rathouski 15’, 46’, Perinovic 67’, Galic 77’)
Canberra Croatia 1 (Godding 28’) Monaro Panthers 2 (Jervis-Hamilton 18’, Nasser 90’)
TABLE
| P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | ||
| 1 | Tigers FC | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 28 | 9 | +19 | 16 |
| 2 | O’Connor Knights | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 10 | +5 | 13 |
| 3 | Tuggeranong United | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 7 | +7 | 10 |
| 4 | Canberra Croatia | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 13 | -3 | 9 |
| 5 | Gungahlin United | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 12 | -4 | 9 |
| 6 | Yoogali SC | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 10 | 21 | -11 | 7 |
| 7 | Monaro Panthers | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 11 | -3 | 6 |
| 8 | Queanbeyan City | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 17 | -10 | 1 |
TOP SCORERS
8: Cooper HEAGNEY (Tigers FC)
6: Anthony ANTONIAK (Tuggeranong United), Leo DONALD (Tuggeranong United)
5: Zachary ILIJOSKI (Tigers FC)
4: Elliot ALBERTO (Tigers FC), Thinley DORJI (Tigers FC), Marko RATHOUSKI (O’Connor Knights)
3: Kaide CASTLE (Yoogali SC), Stefan DONADEL (Yoogali SC), James GODDING (Canberra Croatia)
2: Joshua AMOAH (Tigers FC), Daniel ANDERSON (O’Connor Knights), Seth BONNETT (Queanbeyan City), Zachary COLSON (Tigers FC), Rocco DI PLACIDO (O’Connor Knights), Alexander EVANS (Queanbeyan City), Daniel GALIC (O’Connor Knights), Jack JANKE (O’Connor Knights), Jebediah JEFFERY (Canberra Croatia), Owen LEARMONTH (Canberra Croatia), Sebastian MUNOZ (Gungahlin United), Ayham NASSER (Monaro Panthers), Fabian OLIVARES (Gungahlin United), Leo VANDERPOL (Monaro Panthers)
1: Daniel BARBATANO (Queanbeyan City), Xavier BONNETT (Queanbeyan City), Tanatswa BVIRAKARE (Tigers FC), Stephen CERNI (Gungahlin United), Kye COSSETTINI (Tigers FC), Sivamsh DEEVI (Gungahlin United), Ethan DONETTO (Yoogali SC), Aleksandar DORDEVIC (Queanbeyan City), Ivan DZAJA (O’Connor Knights), Jack ELLWOOD (Monaro Panthers), Dominic GALLUZZO (Yoogali SC), Mitchell JERVIS-HAMILTON (Monaro Panthers), Joshua KEENAN (Yoogali SC), Jacob KITE (Gungahlin United), Marcus LAU (Gungahlin United), Ivica MAJETIC (Canberra Croatia), Mohammad MAZRAEH (Tuggeranong United), Darcy MIDDLETON (Canberra Croatia), Joseph MIKAHEL (Monaro Panthers), Ahmed MUBAIDEEN (Tigers FC), Niko PERINOVIC (O’Connor Knights), Samuel RACITI (Yoogali SC), Andrija RAKIC (Canberra Croatia), Abdin SAID (Tuggeranong United), Ali SOHANI (Monaro Panthers), Josip UJDUR (O’Connor Knights)
