A goal seven minutes from time from Maxx Green ensured that Canberra Croatia would be crowned OPC NPL League Champions for the 26th time with a 2-1 win over Tigers FC at the Australian Institute of Sport.
Needing only a point to claim the title, and a place in the new Australian Championship, Croatia trailed when Tigers winger Joshua Milicevic created the space to fire a shot across Sam Brown and into the far corner.
They would have doubled their lead had Brown not saved miraculously from Lukman Ahmed-Shaibu, blocking from the striker from point-blank range, and Michael Piccolo headed off the line from a Sam Whithear header as the Tigers threatened to get the win they required.
Croatia found a response though early in the second-half as Thomas James tormented Michael Southam to win a penalty which Nick Pratezina calmly converted for his sixteenth goal of the season.
And Croatia were to win it late on as substitute Keegan Vucetic freed Green who raced away from his marker and colly picked his spot for his fifteenth league goal of the season, and 21st in all competitions, a goal that claimed top spot and the silverware for the perennial juggernaut.
Monaro Panthers moved to within a points of Tigers FC as they finally recorded a win in the Clearwaters Derby, defeating near neighbours Quenbeyan City at the third time of asking with a 2-0 win at High Street.
Having lost the previous two matches against City in the OPC NPL campaign, it took until eight minutes from time for the Panthers to break down a stubborn City defence with a goal that was a blow to Queanbeyan’s finals hopes into the bargain.
Christian Kreskas whipped a free-kick into the area which Dylan Deep-Jones was unable to make full contact on, with the ball dropping for Connor Mynott-Smith whose shot at goal was neatly steered past Nick Middleton from close-in by the lurking Deep-Jones.
As Queanbeyan went searching for an equaliser in stoppage time, they were caught on the break with no goalkeeper in the net. Middleton had gone forward for the set-piece but, when the ball was cleared and Daniel Barac helped it over halfway, Mynott-Smith was left unopposed to run it into the empty net.
Gungahlin United edged back into top four contention with a thrilling 3-2 victory over O’Connor Knights in their Round 9 catch-up fixture played on the synthetic at Hawker Football Centre on Wednesday evening.
The Knights, seeking to avoid the wooden spoon struck first as Michael John sent over a delightful centre that was turned home from clos in by striker Jenno Ceruti for his seventh goal of the seaosn.
However, a second-half goal blitz turned the match in favour of the Gunners, Ayu Kimura was at the heart of it, scoring twice in two minutes, Firstly, the forward skipped around the defence and goalkeeper to level, before collecting a pass from Angus Bailey and turning to hammer in a second.
When Yoshida Shoki pounced on a Giancarlo D’Addario flick on to fire home his tenth of the seaosn, Gungahlin were flying. Aisosa Ihegie pulled one back moments later and then passed up a couple of presentable chances to earn his team a point, as the Gunners held on to keep finals football dreams afloat on a damp evening.
And Gungahlin United made sure they would be alive come the final day of the season as they claimed a second win in the week with a come from behind defeat of Yoogali SC at the AIS, Gunners prevailing 2-1.
Yoogali netted first with a lovely team goal that began at the back and ended at the other end of the park. Several Yoogali players were involved before Danny Reid arrived unopposed to slide home from close range.
Gungahlin were stunned and would have to wait until the 68th minute to draw themselves back on terms. A long ball from Riley Brown freed Ayu Kimura whose first touch set him in behind the defence and the second, slid perfectly past Luke Armanini in the Yoogali goal.
The home side were to win it in dramatic fashion three minutes from the end. A corner from Giancarlo D’Addario found Jack Green at the back of the area via a deflection and the experienced defender finished with a stunning volley to give Gungahlin a huge victory.
It is Tuggeranong United who are in pole position for fourth place and finals football though as they enter the final round of action two points clear of Gungahlin courtesy of a 3-1 home win over O’Connor Knights in front of a boisterous old boy’s crowd at Kambah 2.
The Knights shocked the home crown into silence early on as Nick Dahl freed former Tuggeranong striker Michael John who coolly finished past Callum Cook to put the visitors in front.
Critically, Tuggeranong equalised within a couple of minutes. Steve Nealon, often the scorer, turned provider as he burned past his marker and cut the ball back for Bevan Foxall to sweep past Markus Smith.
Smith was later to funnel the ball into his own net off a Cole Falco throw, the officials disallowing the goal by ruling it had crossed the line before the goalkeeper had touched it, but United were to lead in the 78th minute as Falco pounced on a bouncing ball in the area to crash home.
United sealed the points and put their destiny in their own hands when Sam Walker rose highest to power home a header from an Alessandro Pena corner with three minutes remaining.
RESULTS
ROUND 9
Wednesday 20 August
Gungahlin United 3 (Kimura 48’, 50’, Shoki 63’) O’Connor Knights 2 (Ceruti 37’, Ihegie 68’)
ROUND 20
Saturday 23 August
Tigers FC 1 (Milicevic 21’) Canberra Croatia 2 (Pratezina 49’ (p), Green 83’)
Queanbeyan City 0 Monaro Panthers 2 (Deep-Jones 82’, Mynott-Smith 90+3’)
Sunday 24 August
Gungahlin United 2 (Kimura 68’, Green 87’) Yoogali SC 1 (Reid 31’)
Tuggeranong United 3 (Foxall 42’, Falco 78’, Walker 87’) O’Connor Knights 1 (John 40’)
TABLE
| P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | ||
| 1 | Canberra Croatia | 20 | 16 | 0 | 4 | 75 | 24 | +51 | 48 |
| 2 | Tigers FC | 20 | 12 | 4 | 4 | 47 | 32 | +15 | 40 |
| 3 | Monaro Panthers | 20 | 12 | 3 | 5 | 59 | 23 | +36 | 39 |
| 4 | Tuggeranong United | 20 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 29 | 43 | -14 | 27 |
| 5 | Gungahlin United | 20 | 7 | 4 | 9 | 33 | 53 | -20 | 25 |
| 6 | Queanbeyan City | 20 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 19 | 33 | -14 | 24 |
| 7 | Yoogali SC | 20 | 3 | 3 | 14 | 24 | 48 | -24 | 12 |
| 8 | O’Connor Knights | 20 | 3 | 2 | 15 | 32 | 63 | -31 | 11 |
TOP SCORERS
17: Daniel BARAC (Monaro Panthers)
16: Nick PRATEZINA (Canberra Croatia)
15: Thomas JAMES (Canberra Croatia)
14: Maxx GREEN (Canberra Croatia), Steve NEALON (Tuggeranong United)
10: Yoshida SHOKI (Gungahlin United)
9: William AKIO (Tigers FC), Stephen DOMENICI (Monaro Panthers)
8: Lukman AHMED-SHAIBU (O’Connor Knights/Tigers FC), Ayumu KIMURA (Gungahlin United), Daniel SPARROW (Canberra Croatia)
7: Jenno CERUTI (O’Connor Knights), Own GOALS
6: Nico ABOT (Queanbeyan City), Jayce DOTSON (Yoogali SC), Michael JOHN (O’Connor Knights), Connor MYNOTT-SMITH (Monaro Panthers)
5: Aisosa IHEGIE (O’Connor Knights), Robert TKATCHENKO (Monaro Panthers)
4: Ben BASSER-SILK (Monaro Panthers/Tigers FC), Giancarlo D’ADDARIO (Gungahlin United), Ryan KEIR (Canberra Croatia), Christian KRESKAS (Monaro Panthers), Loick LESPINASSE (Gungahlin United), Archie MCGREGOR (Tigers FC), Michael PICCOLO (Monaro Panthers / Canberra Croatia)
3: Darren BAILEY (Yoogali SC), Dylan DEEP-JONES (Monaro Panthers), Mason DONADEL (Yoogali SC), Stefan DONADEL (Yoogali SC), Bevan FOXALL (Tuggeranong United), Zac LAWRENCE (Tuggeranong United), Phakedi MANDA (Monaro Panthers/O’Connor Knights), Joshua MILICEVIC (Tigers FC), Misko NAUMOSKI (Queanbeyan City), Tomohiro OGAWA (Tigers FC), Nik POPOVICH (Tigers FC), Danny REID (Yoogali SC), Thomas ROBERTSON (Gungahlin United), Noah STEINACKER (Tigers FC), Daniel SUBASIC (Canberra Croatia), Nik TANESKI (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), Abderrahim DELLAHI (Queanbeyan City), FERNANDO Jorquera (Monaro Panthers), Josh GASPARI (Gungahlin United), Marko JADRIC (Canberra Croatia), Romeo JAMBREK (Tuggeranong United), Nikos KALFAS (Tigers FC), Jack LEVERETT (Queanbeyan City), Luca MACOR (Monaro Panthers), Marko MILUTINOVIC (Tigers FC), Ryan STRAUB (Monaro Panthers), Keegan VUCETIC (Canberra Croatia)
1: Connor BILL (O’Connor Knights), Thomas BLAZEVSKI (Queanbeyan City), Seth BONNETT (Queanbeyan City), Isaac DONADEL (Yoogali SC), Nic EMANUEL (Tuggeranong United), Cole FALCO (Tuggeranong United), Luca FLOREZ (Gungahlin United), Daniel GALIC (O’Connor Knights), Jack GREEN (Gungahlin United), 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), Jack PERAIC-CULLEN (Canberra Croatia), Euan PETERKIN (Tuggeranong United), Sam RACITI (Yoogali SC), Marko RATHOUSKI (O’Connor Knights), Daniel ROBERTS (Queanbeyan City), Joey SEO (Yoogali SC), Michael SOUTHAM (Tigers FC), Nicholas SUBASIC (Canberra Croatia), Giuseppe TINE (Monaro Panthers), Daler TOKHIROV (Yoogali SC), Noah VANDERPOL (Queanbeyan City), Hamish WALES (Tigers FC), Sam WALKER (Tuggeranong United), Riley ZSUZSA (Canberra Croatia)
TOP ASSISTS
20: Thomas JAMES (Canberra Croatia)
9: Daniel BARAC (Monaro Panthers), Christian KRESKAS (Monaro Panthers)
8: Phakedi MANDA (Monaro Panthers/O’Connor Knights), Nick PRATEZINA (Canberra Croatia)
7: Maxx GREEN (Canberra Croatia), Yoshida SHOKI (Gungahlin United)
6: William AKIO (Tigers FC), Stephen DOMENICI (Monaro Panthers)
5: Tony SPASESKI (Canberra Croatia), Nik TANESKI (Tigers FC)
4: Darren BAILEY (Yoogali SC), Connor MYNOTT-SMITH (Monaro Panthers), Nik POPOVICH (Tigers FC), Thomas ROBERTSON (Gungahlin United), Shandon WHITEHEAD (Tigers FC), Sam WHITHEAR (Tigers FC), Kobi YARIYARI (O’Connor Knights)
3: Daniel COLBERTALDO (Canberra Croatia), Giancarlo D’ADDARIO (Gungahlin United), Josh DE ROSSI (Yoogali SC), Cole FALCO (Tuggeranong United), Aisosa IHEGIE (O’Connor Knights), Jack LEVERETT (Queanbeyan City), Michael PICCOLO (Monaro Panthers), Archie MCGREGOR (Tigers FC), Tomohiro OGAWA (Tigers FC), Danny REID (Yoogali SC), Luke STEVENS (Tuggeranong United), Nicholas SUBASIC (Canberra Croatia), Robert TKATCHENKO (Monaro Panthers), Keegan VUCETIC (Canberra Croatia), Riley ZSUZSA (Canberra Croatia)
2: Micheal ADAMS (O’Connor Knights), Lukman AHMED-SHAIBU (O’Connor Knights/Tigers FC), Angus BAILEY (Tigers FC), Riley BROWN (Gungahlin United), Nikita BYRNES (Gungahlin United), Abderrahim DELLAHI (Queanbeyan City), Chaise DONETTO (Yoogali SC), James DRISCOLL (O’Connor Knights), Nic EMANUEL (Tuggeranong United), Bevan FOXALL (Tuggeranong United), Daniel GALIC (O’Connor Knights), Marko JADRIC (Canberra Croatia), Michael JOHN (O’Connor Knights), Loick LESPINASSE (Gungahlin United), AJ MALAUULU (Gungahlin United), Joshua MILICEVIC (Tigers FC), Josh PEDERSEN (Tuggeranong United), Marko RATHOUSKI (O’Connor Knights), Robbie RIMMER (Yoogali SC), Daniel ROBERTS (Queanbeyan City), Daniel SPARROW (Canberra Croatia), Noah STEINACKER (Tigers FC), Ryan STRAUB (Monaro Panthers)
1: Samuel ABA (Queanbeyan City), Niko ABOT (Queanbeyan City), Ben BASSER-SILK (Monaro Panthers), Connor BILL (O’Connor Knights), Thomas BLAZEVSKI (Queanbeyan City), Sam BROWN (Canberra Croatia), Nick DAHL (O’Connor Knights), Xabier DAVIES (Tuggeranong United), Dylan DEEP-JONES (Monaro Panthers), Bailey DICKENSON (Gungahlin United), Jacob DONADEL (Yoogali SC), Jayce DOTSON (Yoogali SC), FERNANDO Jorquera (Monaro Panthers), Marco GAYER (Monaro Panthers), Matt GRBESA (Canberra Croatia), Hayden HOLLINGER (Yoogali SC), Romeo JAMBREK (Tuggeranong United), Mitchell JERVIS-HAMILTON (Monaro Panthers), Ryan KEIR (Canberra Croatia), Niko KRESIC (O’Connor Knights), Steven KRESKAS (Queanbeyan City), Luca MACOR (Monaro Panthers), Zac MCLAREN (Monaro Panthers), Harry MARTIN (O’Connor Knights), Archie MCGREGOR (Tigers FC), Max MELLICK (Monaro Panthers), Steve NEALON (Tuggeranong United), Ibrahim OBEID (O’Connor Knights), Deacon PALOMBI (Gungahlin United), Alessandro PENA (Tuggeranong United), Nicholas PRATEZINA (Canberra Croatia), Joe PREECE (Yoogali SC), Charlie RAE (Queanbeyan City), Sam ROESTBAKKEN (Monaro Panthers),Luke SAKAMOTO (Tuggeranong United), Vincent SANCHEZ (O’Connor Knights), Cassidy SCHLESINGER (Tuggeranong United), Michael SOUTHAM (Tigers FC), Daniel SUBASIC (Canberra Croatia), Giuseppe TINE (Monaro Panthers), Kristian TOKIC (Queanbeyan City), Sam WALKER (Tuggeranong United)
Image: Mladen Leko
