A goal with the last touch of the encounter allowed Gungahlin United to rescue a point against Tigers FC at the Australian Institute of Sport, damaging the host hopes of the league title as the OPC NPl23 match ended all-square at 1-1.
The home team got off to the perfect start as they took the lead in just the second minute of the match. Gungahlin failed to adequately deal with a right-wing attack and when the ball fell to Joshua Amoah, the forward had time to adjust his feet before finding the back of the net.
The title-chasers appeared to be going back top of the table ahead of the rest of the weekend’s fixtures but were stunned with the last kick of the match as Sivamsh Deevi latched onto a long ball and lobbed the Tigers goalkeeper to steak a point. The final whistle blew straight after.
O’Connor Knights overturned a 0-1 deficit to claim a rampant 4-1 win over Monaro Panthers at Stryda Park on Saturday afternoon.
Panthers started brightly and were rewarded for their positivity with the lead on thirteen minutes. Awarded a penalty, Ayham Nasser confidently rolled home his seventh league goal of the season, sending the ‘keeper the wrong way from the spot.`
The Knights hit back before the break as Daniel Galic levelled matters, and it was the title chasing O’Connor who led five minutes into the second stanza as Kyah Milian netted for the first time this season at this level.
Panthers went looking for an equaliser but were caught out by the fast-finishing visitors as Jack Janke made it 3-1, and Galic rounded off the scoring with eight minutes to play to push Knights to within two points of Tigers FC in second.
Canberra Croatia came from 2-0 down to claim an important win against Queanbeyan City at High Street, a late goal giving the league leaders a narrow 3-2 success.
The bottom-placed club stunned their high-flying opponents with a brace of goals before the 37th minute mark as Queanbeyan started in fine fettle. Jack Bitani was the beneficiary on both occasions, the forward side-footing home two composed finishes to have City two-up.
Croatia needed a response, and they got one close to half-time as Luka Jukic cut inside and planted a finish into the bottom corner. And it took just ten minutes of the second-half for the visitors to level as Andrija Rakic followed up to slide home the equalising goal.
Queanbeyan kept plugging away, but it was the league leaders who would steal it four minutes from time as Andrija Rakic was on hand again to steer home from close range and complete the turnaround.
Over in the Riverina, Tuggeranong United moved eight points clear of Gungahlin United, cementing their status in the top four, as they recorded a well-deserved 4-1 victory over their hosts, Yoogali SC.
The visiting team were two goals to the good by the half-time mark, Anthony Antoniak adding a brace to his season tally to move onto sixteen in the race for the Golden Boot, ahead of the Tigers Cooper Heagney.
But it was two goals in as many minutes in the second-half that made sure the points would be heading back to Canberra as Archie Varnes and Jydon Field both struck in quick succession.
A goal from Ryan Zanatta at least gave the locals something positive to end the match on, but United were the worthy victors.
RESULTS
ROUND 18
Saturday 9 August
Tigers FC 1 (Amoah 2’) Gungahlin United 1 (Deevi 90+1’)
Monaro Panthers 1 (Nasser 13’ (p)) O’Connor Knights 4 (Galic 39’, 82’, Milin 50’, Janke 61’)
Sunday 10 August
Queanbeyan City 2 (Bitani 17’, 36’) Canberra Croatia 3 (Jukic 42’, Andrija Rakic 56’, 86’)
Yoogali SC 1 (Zanatta 75’) Tuggeranong United 4 (Antoniak 12’, 30’, Varnes 48’, Field 50’)
TABLE
| P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | ||
| 1 | Canberra Croatia | 18 | 11 | 2 | 5 | 47 | 30 | +17 | 39 |
| 2 | Tigers FC | 17 | 11 | 2 | 4 | 51 | 23 | +28 | 35 |
| 3 | O’Connor Knights | 17 | 10 | 3 | 4 | 41 | 25 | +16 | 33 |
| 4 | Tuggeranong United | 17 | 8 | 4 | 5 | 36 | 25 | +11 | 28 |
| 5 | Gungahlin United | 16 | 6 | 2 | 8 | 20 | 31 | -11 | 20 |
| 6 | Monaro Panthers | 17 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 26 | 37 | -11 | 19 |
| 7 | Yoogali SC | 17 | 4 | 3 | 11 | 17 | 44 | -27 | 15 |
| 8 | Queanbeyan City | 18 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 24 | 47 | -23 | 10 |
TOP SCORERS
16: Anthony ANTONIAK (Tuggeranong United)
13: Cooper HEAGNEY (Tigers FC)
11: Zachary ILIJOSKI (Tigers FC)
8: Jebediah JEFFERY (Canberra Croatia)
7: Alexander EVANS (Queanbeyan City), Ayham NASSER (Monaro Panthers)
6: Rocco DI PLACIDO (O’Connor Knights), Leo DONALD (Tuggeranong United), Thinley DORJI (Tigers FC), Oliver HAWKINS (Canberra Croatia), Fabian OLIVARES (Gungahlin United), Own GOALS
5: Elliot ALBERTO (Tigers FC), Jack JANKE (O’Connor Knights), Owen LEARMONTH (Canberra Croatia), Darcy MIDDLETON (Canberra Croatia), Anthony RAKIC (Canberra Croatia)
4: Daniel ANDERSON (O’Connor Knights), Zia BAIRD (Monaro Panthers), Kaide CASTLE (Yoogali SC), Ivan DZAJA (O’Connor Knights), Daniel GALIC (O’Connor Knights), James GODDING (Canberra Croatia), Marko RATHOUSKI (O’Connor Knights), Luka USLJEBRKA (O’Connor Knights), Leo VANDERPOL (Monaro Panthers)
3: Jack BITANI (Queanbeyan City), Stefan DONADEL (Yoogali SC), Jake FATTORE (Tigers FC), Luka JUKIC (Canberra Croatia), Jacob KITE (Gungahlin United), Sebastian MUNOZ (Gungahlin United), Daniel OBST (Queanbeyan City), Samuel RACITI (Yoogali SC), Andrija RAKIC (Canberra Croatia), Timothy SANTOS (Tuggeranong United), Sam SHEEDY (Tuggeranong United)
2: Samuel ABA (Queanbeyan City), Joshua AMOAH (Tigers FC), Thomas BARBATANO (Gungahlin United), Seth BONNETT (Queanbeyan City), Xavier BONNETT (Queanbeyan City), Stephen CERNI (Gungahlin United), Zachary COLSON (Tigers FC), Kye COSSETTINI (Tigers FC), Marcus CRISPE (Tigers FC), Sivamsh DEEVI (Gungahlin United), Jack ELLWOOD (Monaro Panthers), Mitchell JERVIS-HAMILTON (Monaro Panthers), Lemar KATAWAZAI (Canberra Croatia), Alexander LULIC (Monaro Panthers), Ivica MAJETIC (Canberra Croatia), Ahmed MUBAIDEEN (Tigers FC), Nikola PERINOVIC (O’Connor Knights), Kris RAAD (Tuggeranong United)
1: Joshua AMOAH (Tigers FC), Cos ARENA (O’Connor Knights), Luke ARMANINI (Yoogali SC), Daniel BARBATANO (Queanbeyan City), Tanatswa BVIRAKARE (Tigers FC), Fabian CACOPARDO (Yoogali SC), Samson CARR (Tigers FC), Marcos DA SILVA (Canberra Croatia), Ethan DONETTO (Yoogali SC), Aleksandar DORDEVIC (Queanbeyan City), Tomer DORON (O’Connor Knights), Jydon FIELD (Tuggeranong United), Michael GALIC (Queanbeyan City), Dominic GALLUZZO (Yoogali SC), Aston GOODWIN (Canberra Croatia), Joshua HEDDITCH (Monaro Panthers), Joshua KEENAN (Yoogali SC), Marcus LAU (Gungahlin United), Jure LEMEZINA (Monaro Panthers), Alexei MARDIYANTS (Monaro Panthers), Mohammad MAZRAEH (Tuggeranong United), Leon MCLEAN (Canberra Croatia), Joseph MIKAHEL (Monaro Panthers), Kyah MILIN (O’Connor Knights), Hamish MOYLE (Gungahlin United), Ibrahim OBEID (O’Connor Knights), Samuel PALIC (Queanbeyan City), Nicholas PIVA (Yoogali SC), Nicolas PULCIANI (Tigers FC), Jayden RIPPON (Gungahlin United), Abdin SAID (Tuggeranong United), Ali SOHANI (Monaro Panthers), Ethan SAUNDERS (O’Connor Knights), William TWEEDIE (O’Connor Knights), Josip UJDUR (O’Connor Knights), Archie VARNES (Tuggeranong United), Ryan ZANATTA (Yoogali SC)
