Canberra Croatia kept up their hunt at the top of the National Premier League under-23 competition with an ultimately comfortable 3-0 away win under the blue skies at High Street, Queanbeyan as they saw off luckless Queanbeyan City 3-0.
Two goals inside the opening half set the platform for the visitors as Jebediah Jeffery took his tally to half-a-dozen for the season with the opener just before the half-hour mark, followed by the second struck a minute before the break by Darcy Middleton.
Queanbeyan had their chances, particularly in the opening stanza, thwarted by the acrobatics of Croatia goalkeeper Jampel Dorji, but when they went looking for a third were caught on the counterattack by teenager Leon McLean and the youngster duly netted his first goal at this level.
O’Connor Knights remain in hot pursuit of the top two and reinforced their claims with a 3-1 win over visiting Monaro Panthers at O’Connor Enclosed.
Ivan Dzaja gave the home team the advantage after half-an-hour, opening the scoring with his fourth goal of the campaign, a feat that was replicated by Rocco Di Placido nine minutes into the second-half as he reached the same goal milestone and Knights extended their lead.
A Jack Ellwood own goal gave the Knights even more of a cushion with twenty minutes remaining meaning Zia Baird’s ninetieth minute goal, his second of the year, was a consolation footnote.
Title-chasing Tigers FC further underlined their credentials as the team to beat at this level as they travelled to Gungahlin Enclosed Oval and came away with a mightily impressive 6-1 win over Gungahlin United.
The visitors took over half-an-hour to break the deadlock, but once Thinley Dorji had done just that there was no looking back and, thanks to a quickfire brace of goals before the interval, firstly from Jake Fattore, and secondly via a Zachary Ilijoski penalty led comfortably at the break.
Kye Cossettini claimed the fourth with twenty minutes remaining following a goalmouth scramble, before Hamish Moyle pulled one back for Gunners three minutes later. Tigers FC had the final word though as substitutes Samson Carr and Ahmed Mubaideen took the score to six.
At Kambah 2, a goal seven minutes from time allowed Yoogali SC to record a vital 2-1 win over hosts Tuggeranong United and close to within three points of their opponents on the league table.
The opening goal was a cracker, and scored by a goalkeeper, as Luke Armanini deployed as a striker in the U23 line-up collected a rogue pass and thumped a brilliant finish into the top corner.
Tuggeranong equalised moments later, their leadings scorer Anthony Antoniak moving onto double figures for the season, but Yoogali won it in the 87th minute as Nicholas Piva turned the ball home from close range.
RESULTS
ROUND 11
Saturday 21 June
Queanbeyan City 0 Canberra Croatia 3 (Jeffery 28’, Middleton 44’, McLean 90’)
O’Connor Knights 3 (Dzaja 30’, Di Placido 54’, Ellwood 73’ (og)) Monaro Panthers 1 (Baird 57’)
Sunday 22 June
Tuggeranong United 1 (Antoniak 29’) Yoogali SC 2 (Armanini 20’, Piva 83’)
Gungahlin United 1 (Moyle 73’) Tigers FC 6 (Dorji 33’, Fattore 41’, Ilijoski 43’ (p), Cossettini 70’, Carr 79’, Mubaideen 90+1’)
TABLE
| P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | ||
| 1 | Tigers FC | 11 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 44 | 15 | +29 | 28 |
| 2 | Canberra Croatia | 11 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 25 | 15 | +10 | 22 |
| 3 | O’Connor Knights | 10 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 21 | 15 | +6 | 20 |
| 4 | Tuggeranong United | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 19 | 17 | +2 | 14 |
| 5 | Yoogali SC | 10 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 14 | 26 | -12 | 11 |
| 6 | Monaro Panthers | 11 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 15 | 24 | -9 | 9 |
| 7 | Gungahlin United | 9 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 11 | 23 | -12 | 9 |
| 8 | Queanbeyan City | 11 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 15 | 28 | -13 | 6 |
TOP SCORERS
11: Cooper HEAGNEY (Tigers FC)
10: Anthony ANTONIAK (Tuggeranong United)
8: Zachary ILIJOSKI (Tigers FC),
6: Leo DONALD (Tuggeranong United), Thinley DORJI (Tigers FC), Jebediah JEFFERY (Canberra Croatia)
5: Alexander EVANS (Queanbeyan City)
4: Elliot ALBERTO (Tigers FC), Kaide CASTLE (Yoogali SC), Marko RATHOUSKI (O’Connor Knights), Own GOALS
3: Rocco DI PLACIDO (O’Connor Knights), Stefan DONADEL (Yoogali SC), Ivan DZAJA (O’Connor Knights), James GODDING (Canberra Croatia), Owen LEARMONTH (Canberra Croatia), Darcy MIDDLETON (Canberra Croatia), Ayham NASSER (Monaro Panthers), Fabian OLIVARES (Gungahlin United), Anthony RAKIC (Canberra Croatia), Leo VANDERPOL (Monaro Panthers)
2: Samuel ABA (Queanbeyan City), Joshua AMOAH (Tigers FC), Daniel ANDERSON (O’Connor Knights), Zia BAIRD (Monaro Panthers), Seth BONNETT (Queanbeyan City), Xavier BONNETT (Queanbeyan City), Zachary COLSON (Tigers FC), Kye COSSETTINI (Tigers FC), Marcus CRISPE (Tigers FC), Daniel GALIC (O’Connor Knights), Oliver HAWKINS (Canberra Croatia), Jack JANKE (O’Connor Knights), Mitchell JERVIS-HAMILTON (Monaro Panthers), Ahmed MUBAIDEEN (Tigers FC), Sebastian MUNOZ (Gungahlin United), Daniel OBST (Queanbeyan City), Niko PERINOVIC (O’Connor Knights)
1: Luke ARMANINI (Yoogali SC), Daniel BARBATANO (Queanbeyan City), Tanatswa BVIRAKARE (Tigers FC), Fabian CACOPARDO (Yoogali SC), Samson CARR (Tigers FC), Stephen CERNI (Gungahlin United), Sivamsh DEEVI (Gungahlin United), Ethan DONETTO (Yoogali SC), Aleksandar DORDEVIC (Queanbeyan City), Tomer DORON (O’Connor Knights), Jack ELLWOOD (Monaro Panthers), Jake FATTORE (Tigers FC), Dominic GALLUZZO (Yoogali SC), Joshua HEDDITCH (Monaro Panthers), Luka JUKIC (Canberra Croatia), Joshua KEENAN (Yoogali SC), Jacob KITE (Gungahlin United), Marcus LAU (Gungahlin United), Ivica MAJETIC (Canberra Croatia), Alexei MARDIYANTS (Monaro Panthers), Mohammad MAZRAEH (Tuggeranong United), Leon MCLEAN (Canberra Croatia), Joseph MIKAHEL (Monaro Panthers), Hamish MOYLE (Gungahlin United), Nicholas PIVA (Yoogali SC), Nicolas PULCIANI (Tigers FC), Samuel RACITI (Yoogali SC), Andrija RAKIC (Canberra Croatia), Jayden RIPPON (Gungahlin United), Abdin SAID (Tuggeranong United), Ali SOHANI (Monaro Panthers), Josip UJDUR (O’Connor Knights)
