Tigers FC upset the applecart by defeating O’Connor Knights in the OPC NPl23 Qualification Final, booking their ticket to the big dance at McKellar Park with a 2-1 victory at Stryda Park.
The League Champions fell behind on sixteen minutes as Tigers struck with a beautifully created opener. Zachary Colson freed Ahmed Mubaideen into the penalty area, and his perfectly weighted square-ball was gleefully tucked home by the onrushing Jake Fattore for a superbly crafted goal.
Knights’ response was similar in design. Winning the ball deep into their half, a fast-paced attack ended with Jack Janke breaking clear and rolling a ball across the goalkeeper, leaving Daniel Anderson with the simplest of tasks of steering into the empty net for his fifth of the season.
Both goalkeepers were called into action in the second-half, Logan Browning for the Knights and Joshua Smith for the Tigers making outstanding saves to preserve parity, but it was the Tigers who were to snatch the winner with seventeen minutes of the match remaining.
Fattore won the ball midway inside the Knights half and broke forward before sliding a pass into Mubaideen inside the area. The forward still had plenty to do but danced past his marker and threaded a finish under Browning to send his team into the Grand Final.
Canberra Croatia secured progression into the NPL23 Preliminary Final and a Croatia derby with the Knights as they shrugged off a resolute Tuggeranong United to win 4-1 after extra-time at Stryda Park.
Croatia’s Oliver Hawkins had the first big chance of the afternoon, but side-footed wide when well-placed in the middle, with Tuggeranong striking shortly after. A slide-rule pass released Anthony Antoniak in behind the Croatia defence and the Golden Boot winners delicately lifted his finish over the advancing Jason Matesa.
Chances came at both ends of the pitch for the remainder of the first-half, but United were able to hold onto their narrow advantage and took that solitary goal lead into the changing rooms at the break.
Antoniak almost doubled Tuggeranong’s lead in the second-half, his lob dropping just wide before Croatia had a penalty shout waved away. Moments later they were awarded a spot-kick, and Captain Ivica Majetic calmly sent the goalkeeper the wrong way to level the scores.
Neither side could find a way through in the rest of regulation time, but Croatia broke through in the extra half-an-hour as Darcy Middleton slotted home a fine finish. And when Majetic forced home a third moments later, Croatia’s NPL23 life was preserved. James Godding sealed it in the second period of extra-time.
RESULTS
QUALIFICATION FINAL
Saturday 6 September
O’Connor Knights 1 (Anderson 38’) Tigers FC 2 (Fattore 16’, Mubaideen 73’)
ELIMINATION FINAL
Saturday 6 September
Canberra Croatia 4 (Majetic 68’ (p), 102’, Middleton 93’, Godding 110’) Tuggeranong United 1 (Antoniak 9’)
TOP SCORERS
18: Anthony ANTONIAK (Tuggeranong United)
15: Zachary ILIJOSKI (Tigers FC)
13: Cooper HEAGNEY (Tigers FC)
10: Fabian OLIVARES (Gungahlin United), Own GOALS
9: Oliver HAWKINS (Canberra Croatia), Jebediah JEFFERY (Canberra Croatia)
8: Owen LEARMONTH (Canberra Croatia)
7: Alexander EVANS (Queanbeyan City), James GODDING (Canberra Croatia), Luka JUKIC (Canberra Croatia), Ayham NASSER (Monaro Panthers), Marko RATHOUSKI (O’Connor Knights)
6: Rocco DI PLACIDO (O’Connor Knights), Leo DONALD (Tuggeranong United), Thinley DORJI (Tigers FC), Darcy MIDDLETON (Canberra Croatia), Anthony RAKIC (Canberra Croatia)
5: Elliot ALBERTO (Tigers FC), Daniel ANDERSON (O’Connor Knights), Ivan DZAJA (O’Connor Knights), Jake FATTORE (Tigers FC), Daniel GALIC (O’Connor Knights), Jack JANKE (O’Connor Knights), Sebastian MUNOZ (Gungahlin United), Andrija RAKIC (Canberra Croatia), Luka USLJEBRKA (O’Connor Knights)
4: Samuel ABA (Queanbeyan City), Zia BAIRD (Monaro Panthers), Thomas BARBATANO (Gungahlin United), Xavier BONNETT (Queanbeyan City), Kaide CASTLE (Yoogali SC), Stephen CERNI (Gungahlin United), Marcus LAU (Gungahlin United), Ivica MAJETIC (Canberra Croatia), Samuel PALIC (Queanbeyan City), Leo VANDERPOL (Monaro Panthers)
3: Jack BITANI (Queanbeyan City), Fabian CACOPARDO (Yoogali SC), Zachary COLSON (Tigers FC), Kye COSSETTINI (Tigers FC), Sivamsh DEEVI (Gungahlin United), Stefan DONADEL (Yoogali SC), Jacob KITE (Gungahlin United), Ahmed MUBAIDEEN (Tigers FC), Daniel OBST (Queanbeyan City), Samuel RACITI (Yoogali SC), Timothy SANTOS (Tuggeranong United), Sam SHEEDY (Tuggeranong United)
2: Lukman AHMED-SHAIBU (Tigers FC), Joshua AMOAH (Tigers FC), Seth BONNETT (Queanbeyan City), Marcus CRISPE (Tigers FC), Marcos DA SILVA (Canberra Croatia), Ethan DONETTO (Yoogali SC), Jack ELLWOOD (Monaro Panthers), Aston GOODWIN (Canberra Croatia), Mitchell JERVIS-HAMILTON (Monaro Panthers), Lemar KATAWAZAI (Canberra Croatia), Alexander LULIC (Monaro Panthers), Kyah MILIN (O’Connor Knights), Hamish MOYLE (Gungahlin United), Nikola PERINOVIC (O’Connor Knights), Kris RAAD (Tuggeranong United), Ethan SAUNDERS (O’Connor Knights)
1: Marcus AGNELLO (O’Connor Knights), Joshua AMOAH (Tigers FC), Cos ARENA (O’Connor Knights), Luke ARMANINI (Yoogali SC), Daniel BARBATANO (Queanbeyan City), Nico BULJAN (Queanbeyan City), Tanatswa BVIRAKARE (Tigers FC), Samson CARR (Tigers FC), Alexander DAVIDS (Queanbeyan City), Aleksandar DORDEVIC (Queanbeyan City), Tomer DORON (O’Connor Knights), Jydon FIELD (Tuggeranong United), Michael GALIC (Queanbeyan City), Dominic GALLUZZO (Yoogali SC), Joshua HEDDITCH (Monaro Panthers), Joshua KEENAN (Yoogali SC), Jure LEMEZINA (Monaro Panthers), Alexei MARDIYANTS (Monaro Panthers), Mohammad MAZRAEH (Tuggeranong United), Leon MCLEAN (Canberra Croatia), Joseph MIKAHEL (Monaro Panthers), Ibrahim OBEID (O’Connor Knights), Nicholas PIVA (Yoogali SC), Nicolas PULCIANI (Tigers FC), Jayden RIPPON (Gungahlin United), Abdin SAID (Tuggeranong United), Ali SOHANI (Monaro Panthers), Coen STORER (Tuggeranong United), William TWEEDIE (O’Connor Knights), Josip UJDUR (O’Connor Knights), Archie VARNES (Tuggeranong United), Angus WALES (Tigers FC(), Shandon WHITEHEAD (Tigers FC), Ryan ZANATTA (Yoogali SC)
