Canberra Croatia thrashed O’Connor Knights in the Croatia Derby with a sensational 9-1 hammering at Deakin Stadium under the lights on a Saturday evening that will live long in the memory of the fervent home support.
Incredibly, it was the Knights who struck first as Jenno Ceruti bundled home from close range inside the first ten minutes, but thereafter Croatia seized control and turned the match around shortly after Thomas James converted from the spot after Marko Jadric was upended.
James had a field day, ending with four assists to go with his brace of goals and would have had a hat-trick but for a spellbinding save from substitute goalkeeper Cameron Brown late on in the fixture.
Maxx Green did bag a treble, ripping the Knights defence to shreds, claiming a pair of assists as well, as the front three made hay against a Knights team that was bedraggled, bewildered, and well beaten.
After Ryan Keir had headed home a James corner for 2-1 the goals flowed. Later in the piece James floated a brilliant free-kick onto the head of Daniel Subasic as the centre-back claimed a first of the season.
And there was a double for the lively Nick Pratezina, the forward moving onto eight goals for the season. The red juggernaut steamrollered their way to a four-point lead at the top of the table and would appear to take some stopping.
Tuggeranong United shook off a resilient Gungahlin United to claim all three points in the Friday evening fixture, winning 4-2 at the end of an enthralling ninety minutes under the lights at Gungahlin Enclosed Oval.
The turning point in an evenly contested fixture arrived eighteen minutes from the full-time whistle when the Gunners were reduced to ten men as forward Luca Florez was dismissed for receiving a second yellow card for a high foot challenge just inside the Tuggeranong half.
Within sixty seconds Tuggeranong had taken the lead for the first time in the contest, the ball ricocheting off Nic Emanuel’s shin and falling perfectly for Steve Nealon to side foot past Aiden Munford and put the visitors 3-2 ahead.
Nic Emanuel made certain of the points in the final minute, taking advantage of a rare error from Munford in charging down his clearance and slotting into the empty goal. It felt harsh on Gungahlin who had earlier taken the lead twice.
Thomas Robertson opened the scoring with a wonderfully executed half-volley, only for Romeo Jambrek to engineer space to strike home an equaliser twenty minutes later. Yoshida Shoki drilled Gungahlin ahead before the break, only for Tuggeranong to level when Bevan Foxall turned well, advanced and stroked home for 2-2 before the late drama.
Tigers FC and Monaro Panthers shared the points in an entertaining 2-2 draw in the clash between second and third at the Australian institute of Sport on a sunny afternoon, Panthers levelling late on.
Tigers led midway through the first-half with a finely taken goal from Sam Whithear. The Tigers skipper played a ball down the line for striker Archie McGregor, and continued his run to receive the return, arrowing a low finish beyond the reach of Heath Ilitch and into the far corner.
Monaro blew a glorious chance to equalise from the spot ten minutes from the break when Daniel Barac was adjudged to have been fouled in the area. Kristian Nel stood tall though, saving Stephen Domenici’s penalty and then parrying the rebound to safety.
And Tigers made the Panthers pay with a second a minute from half-time. Nik Taneski plated in a reverse pass that set Noah Steinacker in on goal and the defender finished with a similar shot to Whithear’s earlier goal.
Daniel Barac pulled one back with his ninth of the season, but it looked like Tigers would take the spoils when they were awarded a penalty in stoppage time. Substitute Nikos Kalfas was upended, but saw his penalty saved and, at the other end Robert Tkatchenko ponced to head home and earn the draw.
The final game of the weekend saw Queanbeyan City leave it late to claim a vital three points as they travelled to Solar Mas Stadium in Griffith and came away with the slenderest of 1-0 successes over Yoogali SC.
Heading into next week’s Cup Final showdown with Canberra Croatia, City were heading for a point at a tough venue to visit, until they stole all three in the final minute of the contest.
Seth Bonnett, on as a substitute, was released by Marko Savkovic into the left channel. His initial cross was half-charged down, falling to fellow replacement Samuel Aba who laid off a pass for Bonnett to strike low past Michael Di Paoli and into the corner of the net for the match-winner.
RESULTS
ROUND 8
Friday 30 May
Gungahlin United 2 (Robertson 9’, Shoki 44’) Tuggeranong United 4 (Jambrek 28’, Foxall 56’, Nealon 73’, Emanuel 90’)
Saturday 31 May
Tigers FC 2 (Whithear 26’, Steinacker 44’) Monaro Panthers 2 (Barac 55’, Tkatchenko 90+5’)
Canberra Croatia 9 (James 27’ (p), 45+3’, Keir 38’, Pratezina 43’, 50’, Green 53’, 60’, 63’, D. Subasic 90’) O’Connor Knights 1 (Ceruti 9’)
Sunday 1 June
Yoogali SC 0 Queanbeyan City 1 (S. Bonnett 90’)
TABLE
| P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | ||
| 1 | Canberra Croatia | 8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 37 | 5 | +32 | 21 |
| 2 | Tigers FC | 9 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 23 | 13 | +10 | 18 |
| 3 | Monaro Panthers | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 29 | 10 | +19 | 16 |
| 4 | Tuggeranong United | 8 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 11 | 18 | -11 | 10 |
| 5 | Queanbeyan City | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 16 | -10 | 9 |
| 6 | O’Connor Knights | 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 15 | 36 | -11 | 7 |
| 7 | Yoogali SC | 9 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 13 | 24 | -11 | 5 |
| 8 | Gungahlin United | 8 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 25 | -20 | 5 |
TOP SCORERS
9: Daniel BARAC (Monaro Panthers)
8: Nick PRATEZINA (Canberra Croatia)
7: Maxx GREEN (Canberra Croatia), Thomas JAMES (Canberra Croatia)
6: Jayce DOTSON (Yoogali SC), Steve NEALON (Tuggeranong United)
5: Daniel SPARROW (Canberra Croatia), Robert TKATCHENKO (Monaro Panthers)
4: Lukman AHMED-SHAIBU (O’Connor Knights), Stephen DOMENICI (Monaro Panthers), Archie MCGREGOR (Tigers FC)
3: Nico ABOT (Queanbeyan City), William AKIO (Tigers FC), Darren BAILEY (Yoogali SC), Ben BASSER-SILK (Monaro Panthers), Jenno CERUTI (O’Connor Knights), Own GOALS
2: Micheal ADAMS (O’Connor Knights), Augustine BANGURA (Tigers FC), Romeo JAMBREK (Tuggeranong United), Nikos KALFAS (Tigers FC), Luca MACOR (Monaro Panthers), Tomohiro OGAWA (Tigers FC), Michael PICCOLO (Monaro Panthers), Nik POPOVICH (Tigers FC), Danny REID (Yoogali SC), Yoshida SHOKI (Gungahlin United), Keegan VUCETIC (Canberra Croatia), Sam WHITEHEAR (Tigers FC)
1: Angus BAILEY (Tigers FC), Thomas BLAZEVSKI (Queanbeyan City), Seth BONNETT (Queanbeyan City), Nic EMANUEL (Tuggeranong United), FERNANDO Jorquera (Monaro Panthers), Luca FLOREZ (Gungahlin United), Bevan FOXALL (Tuggeranong United), Josh GASPARI (Gungahlin United), Marko JADRIC (Canberra Croatia), Nikola JADRIC (Canberra Croatia), Michael JOHN (O’Connor Knights), Chistian JUNNA (O’Connor Knights), Ryan KEIR (Canberra Croatia), Niko KRESIC (O’Connor Knights), Christian KRESKAS (Monaro Panthers), Jack LEVERETT (Queanbeyan City), Phakedi MANDA (O’Connor Knights), Harry MARTIN (O’Connor Knights), Nathen MEGIC (Tigers FC), Marko MILUTINOVIC (Tigers FC), Alessandro PENA (Tuggeranong United), Thomas ROBERTSON (Gungahlin United), Michael SOUTHAM (Tigers FC), Noah STEINACKER (Tigers FC), Ryan STRAUB (Monaro Panthers), Daniel SUBASIC (Canberra Croatia), Nicholas SUBASIC (Canberra Croatia), Nim TANESKI (Tigers FC), Giuseppe TINE (Monaro Panthers), Riley ZSUZSA (Canberra Croatia)
TOP ASSISTS
12: Thomas JAMES (Canberra Croatia)
5: Daniel BARAC (Monaro Panthers),7: Maxx GREEN (Canberra Croatia)
5: Daniel BARAC (Monaro Panthers), Christian KRESKAS (Monaro Panthers), Nick PRATEZINA (Canberra Croatia)
4: Nick PRATEZINA (Canberra Croatia)
3: Stephen DOMENICI (Monaro Panthers), Phakedi MANDA (O’Connor Knights), Michael PICCOLO (Monaro Panthers), Robert TKATCHENKO (Monaro Panthers), Nik POPOVICH (Tigers FC), Nik TANESKI (Tigers FC)
2: Micheal ADAMS (O’Connor Knights), William AKIO (Tigers FC), Darren BAILEY (Yoogali SC), Daniel COLBERTALDO (Canberra Croatia), Chaise DONETTO (Yoogali SC), James DRISCOLL (O’Connor Knights), Daniel GALIC (O’Connor Knights), Archie MCGREGOR (Tigers FC), Tomohiro OGAWA (Tigers FC), Danny REID (Yoogali SC), Nicholas SUBASIC (Canberra Croatia), Shandon WHITEHEAD (Tigers FC), Kobi YARIYARI (O’Connor Knights)
1: Samuel ABA (Queanbeyan City), Lukman AHMED-SHAIBU (O’Connor Knights), Angus BAILEY (Tigers FC), Ben BASSER-SILK (Monaro Panthers), Thomas BLAZEVSKI (Queanbeyan City), Xabier DAVIES (Tuggeranong United), Josh DE ROSSI (Yoogali SC), Bailey DICKENSON (Gungahlin United), Jacob DONADEL (Yoogali SC), Jayce DOTSON (Yoogali SC), Nic EMANUEL (Tuggeranong United), Cole FALCO (Tuggeranong United), Marco GAYER (Monaro Panthers), Marko JADRIC (Canberra Croatia), Niko KRESIC (O’Connor Knights), Luca MACOR (Monaro Panthers), Archie MCGREGOR (Tigers FC), Max MELLICK (Monaro Panthers), Josh PEDERSEN (Tuggeranong United), Nicholas PRATEZINA (Canberra Croatia), Joe PREECE (Yoogali SC), Charlie RAE (Queanbeyan City), Robbie RIMMER (Yoogali SC), Thomas ROBERTSON (Gungahlin United), Daniel SPARROW (Canberra Croatia), Tony SPASESKI (Canberra Croatia), Noah STEINACKER (Tigers FC), Luke STEVENS (Tuggeranong United), Daniel SUBASIC (Canberra Croatia), Giuseppe TINE (Monaro Panthers), Kristian TOKIC (Queanbeyan City), Keegan VUCETIC (Canberra Croatia), Sam WHITHEAR (Tigers FC)
