Yoogali SC recorded arguably their greatest ever OPC National Premier League victory as they secured a remarkable 2-1 away win over League leaders Canberra Croatia at Deakin Stadium, their first ever win over the Canberra colossus.
Yoogali were in front eleven minutes before half-time as a calamitous defensive error allowed Daler Tokhirov in on goal. Croatia stopper Jason Matesa got a fair piece on the shot but was unable to stop it rolling over the line to give the visitors a surprising, but well deserved, lead.
And it was to get even better for the men from the Riverina five minutes later. Josh De Rossi flicked on a long ball and Mason Donadel launched an instinctive first-time half-volley that flew over the head of Matesa into the net for a quite sensational strike, and a contender for Goal of the Season.
Croatia missed a glorious chance to pull one back when Maxx Green was denied from the spot by a save from Luke Armanini, which meant that when Ryan Keir did score with twelve minutes to go, Croatia were left chasing the game and couldn’t find a way pass the Yoogali defence again, the visitors claiming the points to lift them off the bottom of the table.
A brace of goals from striker Ayumu Kimura gave Gungahlin United a priceless 2-1 win over Queanbeyan City under the Friday Night Lights at Gungahlin Enclosed Ival, a result that pushed Gunners into top four contention.
Kimura scored two contrasting goals of equal quality, aided and abetted on both occasions by compatriot Yoshida Shoki, the midfield schemer enjoying a stunning all-round display, capped by a pair of assists.
Kimura’s first goal, in the 22nd minute, was a stunner. Collecting a Shoki pass the forward thumped a thunderbolt of an effort from distance that flashed past Nick Middleton. The second, more straightforward, as Kimura was unmarked when found by Shoki to slot home.
Gabriel Ayuel pulled one back, from a seated position late on as Gunners, reduced to ten men following the dismissal of Bailey Dickinson held on. And it required a magnificent one-handed save from goalkeeper Aiden Munford to preserve the win, the stopper clawing away a Nahuel Guerero header in stoppage time.
Tigers FC too advantage of Canberra Croatia’s slip-up as they stormed to a 4-1 away win over O’Connor Knights at O’Connor Enclosed to close the gap at the top to just six points with a game in hand.
The visitors took the lead with a stroke of good fortune in the sixteenth minutes. A penetrating run down the right flank from William Akio saw his cross into the penalty area ricochet off a couple of O’Connor Knights defenders before entering the net off Nik Taneski.
Twenty minutes later it was two for the title chasers as Noah Steinacker freed Akio down the opposite flank. The South Sudanese winger cut inside his marker and curled a beauty into the far corner for the net.
Steinacker was next to strike, curling home a decent effort of his own after an exchange of passes with Akio, before Micheal John pulled one back for the Knights, converting well from an Aisosa Ihegie throw-in.
Tigers had the last word though, adding a fourth goal as time was running out, Steinacker claiming a double, as he rammed home a rebound after substitute Tomohiro Ogawa saw his shot beaten away by Cameron Brown.
Having heard that Croatia had been beaten, Monaro Panthers would have been disappointed not to have closed the gap at the top themselves as they were forced to settle for a 1-1 draw against Tuggeranong United at Kambah 2.
They may have won it at the death, but Robert Tkatchenko saw his ninetieth minute penalty sensationally saved by United custodian Callum Cook, the ‘keeper plunging low to his left to turn the ball away.
Earlier, United had led when a probing run from Cassidy Schlesinger down the right flank ended with a cut-back into the area for Steve Nealon who side-footed an instinctive first-time finish past Gerion Mehmetaj for his eleventh NPL goal of the campaign.
Monaro drew level early in the second-half as Phakedi Manda slid a pass into Connor Mynott-Smith who angled his finish across Cook and into the corner for his fourth goal in four successive matches.
RESULTS
ROUND 17
Friday 1 August
Gungahlin United 2 (Kimura 22’, 27’) Queanbeyan City 1 (Ayuel 84’)
Saturday 2 August
Tuggeranong United 1 (Nealon 20’) Monaro Panthers 1 (Mynott-Smith 58’)
O’Connor Knights 1 (John 65’) Tigers FC 4 (Taneski 16’, Akio 38’, Steinacker 49’, 86’)
Canberra Croatia 1 (Keir 78’) Yoogali SC 2 (Tokhirov 34’, M. Donadel 39’)
TABLE
| P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | ||
| 1 | Canberra Croatia | 17 | 13 | 0 | 4 | 64 | 20 | +44 | 39 |
| 2 | Tigers FC | 16 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 36 | 24 | +12 | 33 |
| 3 | Monaro Panthers | 16 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 46 | 18 | +28 | 30 |
| 4 | Queanbeyan City | 17 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 18 | 27 | -9 | 23 |
| 5 | Tuggeranong United | 17 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 21 | 37 | -16 | 21 |
| 6 | Gungahlin United | 16 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 24 | 42 | -18 | 18 |
| 7 | Yoogali SC | 17 | 3 | 3 | 11 | 22 | 37 | -15 | 12 |
| 8 | O’Connor Knights | 16 | 3 | 1 | 12 | 26 | 52 | -26 | 10 |
TOP SCORERS
14: Nick PRATEZINA (Canberra Croatia)
13: Daniel BARAC (Monaro Panthers)
12: Thomas JAMES (Canberra Croatia)
11: Maxx GREEN (Canberra Croatia), Steve NEALON (Tuggeranong United)
8: Lukman AHMED-SHAIBU (O’Connor Knights/Tigers FC), Daniel SPARROW (Canberra Croatia)
6: Nico ABOT (Queanbeyan City), William AKIO (Tigers FC), Jayce DOTSON (Yoogali SC)
5: Jenno CERUTI (O’Connor Knights), Stephen DOMENICI (Monaro Panthers), Ayumu KIMURA (Gungahlin United), Yoshida SHOKI (Gungahlin United), Robert TKATCHENKO (Monaro Panthers), Own GOALS
4: Aisosa IHEGIE (O’Connor Knights), Michael JOHN (O’Connor Knights), Ryan KEIR (Canberra Croatia), Loick LESPINASSE (Gungahlin United), Archie MCGREGOR (Tigers FC), Connor MYNOTT-SMITH (Monaro Panthers)
3: Darren BAILEY (Yoogali SC), Ben BASSER-SILK (Monaro Panthers), Mason DONADEL (Yoogali SC), Stefan DONADEL (Yoogali SC), Christian KRESKAS (Monaro Panthers), Phakedi MANDA (Monaro Panthers/O’Connor Knights), Misko NAUMOSKI (Queanbeyan City), Michael PICCOLO (Monaro Panthers / Canberra Croatia), Thomas ROBERTSON (Gungahlin United), Noah STEINACKER (Tigers FC), Sam WHITEHEAR (Tigers FC)
2: Micheal ADAMS (O’Connor Knights), Gabriel AYUEL (Queanbeyan City), Angus BAILEY (Tigers FC / Gungahlin United), Augustine BANGURA (Tigers FC), Daniel COLBERTALDO (Canberra Croatia), Giancarlo D’ADDARIO (Gungahlin United), Dylan DEEP-JONES (Monaro Panthers), FERNANDO Jorquera (Monaro Panthers), Bevan FOXALL (Tuggeranong United), Josh GASPARI (Gungahlin United), Marko JADRIC (Canberra Croatia), Romeo JAMBREK (Tuggeranong United), Nikos KALFAS (Tigers FC), Zac LAWRENCE (Tuggeranong United), Jack LEVERETT (Queanbeyan City), Luca MACOR (Monaro Panthers), Marko MILUTINOVIC (Tigers FC), Tomohiro OGAWA (Tigers FC), Nik POPOVICH (Tigers FC), Danny REID (Yoogali SC), Daniel SUBASIC (Canberra Croatia), Nik TANESKI (Tigers FC), Keegan VUCETIC (Canberra Croatia)
1: 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), Marko RATHOUSKI (O’Connor Knights), Joey SEO (Yoogali SC), Michael SOUTHAM (Tigers FC), Ryan STRAUB (Monaro Panthers), Nicholas SUBASIC (Canberra Croatia), Giuseppe TINE (Monaro Panthers), Daler TOKHIROV (Yoogali SC), Noah VANDERPOL (Queanbeyan City), Hamish WALES (Tigers FC), Riley ZSUZSA (Canberra Croatia)
TOP ASSISTS
18: Thomas JAMES (Canberra Croatia)
9: Christian KRESKAS (Monaro Panthers)
8: Nick PRATEZINA (Canberra Croatia)
7: Maxx GREEN (Canberra Croatia), Phakedi MANDA (Monaro Panthers/O’Connor Knights), Yoshida SHOKI (Gungahlin United)
5: William AKIO (Tigers FC), Daniel BARAC (Monaro Panthers), Stephen DOMENICI (Monaro Panthers), Tony SPASESKI (Canberra Croatia)
4: Darren BAILEY (Yoogali SC), Thomas ROBERTSON (Gungahlin United), Nik TANESKI (Tigers FC), Shandon WHITEHEAD (Tigers FC), Kobi YARIYARI (O’Connor Knights)
3: Daniel COLBERTALDO (Canberra Croatia), Josh DE ROSSI (Yoogali SC), Aisosa IHEGIE (O’Connor Knights), Jack LEVERETT (Queanbeyan City), Michael PICCOLO (Monaro Panthers), Archie MCGREGOR (Tigers FC), Tomohiro OGAWA (Tigers FC), Nik POPOVICH (Tigers FC), Danny REID (Yoogali SC), 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), Chaise DONETTO (Yoogali SC), James DRISCOLL (O’Connor Knights), Nic EMANUEL (Tuggeranong United), Cole FALCO (Tuggeranong United), Daniel GALIC (O’Connor Knights), Marko JADRIC (Canberra Croatia), Loick LESPINASSE (Gungahlin United), Josh PEDERSEN (Tuggeranong United), Marko RATHOUSKI (O’Connor Knights), Robbie RIMMER (Yoogali SC), Daniel SPARROW (Canberra Croatia), Noah STEINACKER (Tigers FC), Ryan STRAUB (Monaro Panthers), Keegan VUCETIC (Canberra Croatia), 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), FERNANDO Jorquera (Monaro Panthers), Bevan FOXALL (Tuggeranong United), Marco GAYER (Monaro Panthers), Matt GRBESA (Canberra Croatia), Romeo JAMBREK (Tuggeranong United), Ryan KEIR (Canberra Croatia), Niko KRESIC (O’Connor Knights), Steven KRESKAS (Queanbeyan City), 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), Cassidy SCHLESINGER (Tuggeranong United), Daniel SUBASIC (Canberra Croatia), Giuseppe TINE (Monaro Panthers), Kristian TOKIC (Queanbeyan City),
