Canberra Croatia rebounded from their loss at home to Monaro Panthers last week with a crushing 7-1 hammering of Tuggeranong United in a match played at the Australian Institute of Sport.
The league leaders pounded United into submission scoring three goals in four first-half minutes to rack up a 3-0 lead by the 12th minute mark. Daniel Sparrow opened the scoring in the eighth minutes, scoring from close-in, before Maxx Green drilled in a second less than a minute later and Ryan Keir tapped in the third as Tuggeranong wilted.
There was a second for Green early in the second-half, before Bevan Foxall fired home after a neat lay-off from Luke Stevens to reduce the arrears. That appeared to poke the bear and Thomas James responded for Croatia.
Green completed a hat-trick, his third treble of the season, before James rounded things off with his second, to go along with four assists moving him onto twelve goals and seventeen assists for an incredible campaign.
Monaro Panthers kept up their good form as they swatted aside Gungahlin United with a 4-0 win at Gungahlin Enclosed on an emotional day when the home club paid tribute to 14-year-old Josh Oguns who tragically passed away last week.
Following a pin-drop silent minutes remembrance, observed by Oguns schoolmates and teammates alike, alongside the club’s junior and senior base, the Gunners appeared flat and could not hit their stride.
Zac McLaren created the opener for Daniel Barac to prod past Aiden Munford, and the striker had his second later in the half as Connot Mynott-Smith released Phakedi Manda to square for Barac to finish.
Manda himself clouted a third through a crowded box after Gungahlin failed to deal with a Dylan Deep-Jones header, and the Panthers claimed a fourth in the second stanza as Mynott-Smith was left unmarked inside the six-yard box to turn home a Fernando header from a corner.
One goal was to prove enough for Tigers FC to continue the hunt for top-spot in the competition as they edged their way to a nervy 1-0 success over Queanbeyan City at the Australian Institute of Sport.
In a game in which both teams had opportunities to break the deadlock, the telling moment arrived just past the sixty-minute mark as the Tigers made a set-piece opportunity count to break Queanbeyan resistance.
A corner from the left touchline was whipped dangerously into the area where Tigers skipper Sam Whithear leaped highest to nod the ball down towards the back post. There, lurking to apply the finishing touch, was central defender Marko Milutinovic who steered home his second goal of the season.
Yoogali SC recorded just a second win of the season as they turned in a dominant second-half performance to come away from O’Connor Enclosed with a 2-0 victory over the O’Connor Knights.
In truth, the gap should have been much wider, Stefan Donadel blazing over an open goal when Cameron Brown, making a first start in the team, could only parry a long-range shot into his path, whilst Mason Donadel clattered a shot off the bar when found by the lively Danny Reid.
The goal, when it did come, was a rarity. Isaac Donadel was playing his 54th NPL match without troubling the scorers when he met a half-volley from outside the area with a crisply struck daisy-cutter that flashed past Brown in the Knights goal.
Shortly afterwards, the visitors had two. Reid sent in a cross that Daler Tokhirov completely misdirected with his header, the ball eventually falling to Stefan Donadel who, presented with a similar chance to his miss, was not about to pass up this opportunity and turned home his third of the campaign to seal the points.
RESULTS
ROUND 15
Saturday 19 July
Tigers FC 1 (Milutinovic 61’) Queanbeyan City 0
O’Connor Knights 0 Yoogali SC 2 (I. Donadel 51’, S. Donadel 69’)
Sunday 20 July
Gungahlin United 0 Monaro Panthers 4 (Barac 21’, 33’, Manda 36’, Mynott-Smith 55’)
Tuggeranong United 1 (Foxall 57’) Canberra Croatia 7 (Sparrow 8’, Green 9’, 51’, 75’, Keir 12’, James 66’, 88’)
TABLE
| P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | ||
| 1 | Canberra Croatia | 15 | 12 | 0 | 3 | 60 | 16 | +44 | 36 |
| 2 | Tigers FC | 15 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 32 | 23 | +9 | 30 |
| 3 | Monaro Panthers | 15 | 9 | 2 | 4 | 45 | 17 | +28 | 29 |
| 4 | Queanbeyan City | 15 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 16 | 25 | -9 | 20 |
| 5 | Tuggeranong United | 15 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 18 | 35 | -17 | 17 |
| 6 | Gungahlin United | 14 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 21 | 39 | -18 | 15 |
| 7 | O’Connor Knights | 14 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 23 | 45 | -22 | 10 |
| 8 | Yoogali SC | 15 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 20 | 35 | -15 | 9 |
TOP SCORERS
13: Daniel BARAC (Monaro Panthers)
12: Thomas JAMES (Canberra Croatia)
11: Maxx GREEN (Canberra Croatia), Nick PRATEZINA (Canberra Croatia)
8: Lukman AHMED-SHAIBU (O’Connor Knights/Tigers FC), Steve NEALON (Tuggeranong United), Daniel SPARROW (Canberra Croatia)
6: Nico ABOT (Queanbeyan City), Jayce DOTSON (Yoogali SC)
5: William AKIO (Tigers FC), Jenno CERUTI (O’Connor Knights), Stephen DOMENICI (Monaro Panthers), Robert TKATCHENKO (Monaro Panthers), Own GOALS
4: Aisosa IHEGIE (O’Connor Knights), Loick LESPINASSE (Gungahlin United), Archie MCGREGOR (Tigers FC), Yoshida SHOKI (Gungahlin United)
3: Darren BAILEY (Yoogali SC), Ben BASSER-SILK (Monaro Panthers), Stefan DONADEL (Yoogali SC), Ryan KEIR (Canberra Croatia), Ayumu KIMURA (Gungahlin United), Christian KRESKAS (Monaro Panthers), Phakedi MANDA (Monaro Panthers/O’Connor Knights), Connor MYNOTT-SMITH (Monaro Panthers), Michael PICCOLO (Monaro Panthers / Canberra Croatia), Thomas ROBERTSON (Gungahlin United), Sam WHITEHEAR (Tigers FC)
2: Micheal ADAMS (O’Connor Knights), Angus BAILEY (Tigers FC / Gungahlin United), Augustine BANGURA (Tigers FC), Daniel COLBERTALDO (Canberra Croatia), Giancarlo D’ADDARIO (Gungahlin United), Dylan DEEP-JONES (Monaro Panthers), Mason DONADEL (Yoogali SC), FERNANDO Jorquera (Monaro Panthers), Bevan FOXALL (Tuggeranong United), Josh GASPARI (Gungahlin United), Marko JADRIC (Canberra Croatia), Romeo JAMBREK (Tuggeranong United), Michael JOHN (O’Connor Knights), Nikos KALFAS (Tigers FC), Zac LAWRENCE (Tuggeranong United), Jack LEVERETT (Queanbeyan City), Luca MACOR (Monaro Panthers), Marko MILUTINOVIC (Tigers FC), Misko NAUMOSKI (Queanbeyan City), Tomohiro OGAWA (Tigers FC), Nik POPOVICH (Tigers FC), Danny REID (Yoogali SC), Daniel SUBASIC (Canberra Croatia), Keegan VUCETIC (Canberra Croatia)
1: Gabriel AYUEL (Queanbeyan City), Thomas BLAZEVSKI (Queanbeyan City), Seth BONNETT (Queanbeyan City), Abderrahim DELLAHI (Queanbeyan City), Isaac DONADEL (Yoogali SC), Nic EMANUEL (Tuggeranong United), Luca FLOREZ (Gungahlin United), Daniel GALIC (O’Connor Knights), Nikola JADRIC (Canberra Croatia), Chistian JUNNA (O’Connor Knights), Niko KRESIC (O’Connor Knights), Alex-Junior MALAUULU (Gungahlin United), Harry MARTIN (O’Connor Knights), Zac MCLAREN (Monaro Panthers), Nathen MEGIC (Tigers FC), Alessandro PENA (Tuggeranong United), Euan PETERKIN (Tuggeranong United), Daniel ROBERTS (Queanbeyan City), Joey SEO (Yoogali SC), Michael SOUTHAM (Tigers FC), Noah STEINACKER (Tigers FC), Ryan STRAUB (Monaro Panthers), Nicholas SUBASIC (Canberra Croatia), Nik TANESKI (Tigers FC), Giuseppe TINE (Monaro Panthers), Noah VANDERPOL (Queanbeyan City), Hamish WALES (Tigers FC), Riley ZSUZSA (Canberra Croatia)
TOP ASSISTS
17: Thomas JAMES (Canberra Croatia)
9: Christian KRESKAS (Monaro Panthers)
8: Nick PRATEZINA (Canberra Croatia)
7: Maxx GREEN (Canberra Croatia)
6: Phakedi MANDA (Monaro Panthers/O’Connor Knights)
5: Daniel BARAC (Monaro Panthers), Stephen DOMENICI (Monaro Panthers), Yoshida SHOKI (Gungahlin United), Tony SPASESKI (Canberra Croatia)
4: Darren BAILEY (Yoogali SC), Nik TANESKI (Tigers FC), Shandon WHITEHEAD (Tigers FC), Kobi YARIYARI (O’Connor Knights)
3: William AKIO (Tigers FC), Daniel COLBERTALDO (Canberra Croatia), Jack LEVERETT (Queanbeyan City), Michael PICCOLO (Monaro Panthers), Archie MCGREGOR (Tigers FC), Nik POPOVICH (Tigers FC), Danny REID (Yoogali SC), Thomas ROBERTSON (Gungahlin United), Luke STEVENS (Tuggeranong United), Nicholas SUBASIC (Canberra Croatia), Robert TKATCHENKO (Monaro Panthers)
2: Micheal ADAMS (O’Connor Knights), Giancarlo D’ADDARIO (Gungahlin United), Abderrahim DELLAHI (Queanbeyan City), Josh DE ROSSI (Yoogali SC), Chaise DONETTO (Yoogali SC), James DRISCOLL (O’Connor Knights), Cole FALCO (Tuggeranong United), Daniel GALIC (O’Connor Knights), Marko JADRIC (Canberra Croatia), Loick LESPINASSE (Gungahlin United), Tomohiro OGAWA (Tigers FC), Josh PEDERSEN (Tuggeranong United), Marko RATHOUSKI (O’Connor Knights), Robbie RIMMER (Yoogali SC), Daniel SPARROW (Canberra Croatia), Ryan STRAUB (Monaro Panthers), Sam WHITHEAR (Tigers FC), Riley ZSUZSA (Canberra Croatia)
1: Samuel ABA (Queanbeyan City), Niko ABOT (Queanbeyan City), Lukman AHMED-SHAIBU (O’Connor Knights), Angus BAILEY (Tigers FC), Ben BASSER-SILK (Monaro Panthers), Connor BILL (O’Connor Knights), Thomas BLAZEVSKI (Queanbeyan City), Riley BROWN (Gungahlin United), Xabier DAVIES (Tuggeranong United), Bailey DICKENSON (Gungahlin United), Jacob DONADEL (Yoogali SC), Jayce DOTSON (Yoogali SC), Nic EMANUEL (Tuggeranong United), FERNANDO Jorquera (Monaro Panthers), Marco GAYER (Monaro Panthers), Romeo JAMBREK (Tuggeranong United), Ryan KEIR (Canberra Croatia), Niko KRESIC (O’Connor Knights), Luca MACOR (Monaro Panthers), Zac MCLAREN (Monaro Panthers), AJ MALAUULU (Gungahlin United), Harry MARTIN (O’Connor Knights), Archie MCGREGOR (Tigers FC), Max MELLICK (Monaro Panthers), Nicholas PRATEZINA (Canberra Croatia), Joe PREECE (Yoogali SC), Charlie RAE (Queanbeyan City), Daniel ROBERTS (Queanbeyan City), Sam ROESTBAKKEN (Monaro Panthers), Noah STEINACKER (Tigers FC), Daniel SUBASIC (Canberra Croatia), Giuseppe TINE (Monaro Panthers), Kristian TOKIC (Queanbeyan City), Keegan VUCETIC (Canberra Croatia)
