A sensational strike by substitute Nik Taneski sent Tigers FC into the OPC NPL Grand Final with a 3-2 victory over Canberra Croatia at Stryda Park and consign the League Champions to the Preliminary Final.
Taneski latched onto a William Akio flick to send a superb first-time half-volley looping over the head of Sam Brown to send the Tigers travelling support into ecstasy and spark scenes of celebration amongst the Tigers players.
After a quiet opening period, it was Tigers FC who took the lead in the eighteenth minute. Akio burst past a couple of attempted challengers and was upended by Croatia stopper Brown. The forward brushed himself off to send Brown the wrong way for his tenth of the campaign.
Croatia huffed and puffed in search of a response and, in the shadows of half-time, found the leveller. Michael Piccolo played in a perfectly weighted pass in behind the Tigers FC defence allowing Maxx Green to sprint away, round Willem Lejeune in the Tigers goal and roll home the equaliser.
All square at the interval, Tigers restored their lead as Akio received a lofted ball from Josh Milicevic, held off his marker and finished with aplomb. Croatia drew back on terms again though as Thomas James ghosted past defenders to tee up substitute Keegan Vucetic, but it was another replacement, Taneski, that was to have the last word.
Monaro Panthers eased to the Preliminary Final and a match with Canberra Croatia but were made to work all the way by a determined Tuggeranong United, the Panthers winning 5-1 with a final scoreline that was harsh on United.
The Panthers appeared to be having it all their own way in the opening half as two goals in four minutes from their leading scorer Daniel Barac gave them the advantage. Firstly, Barac showed his alertness as he pounced to prod home from close range after Christian Kreskas had nodded down a Ryan Straub corner.
And the striker was on target again midway through the half with another close-range effort. Stephen Domenici was presented with the ball by a mistimed clearance, and he danced through only to see his shot cleared off the line. Barac reacted quickest to turn home the loose ball.
United gave themselves hope though with a goal three minutes before the interval. Alessandro Pena swung in a corner and Sam Waker met it at the near post with a volley that flashed past Heath Ilitch in the Monaro goal.
Tuggeranong started the second-half superbly and ought to have equalised when Steve Nealon went clear but fired wide and, ultimately, it was the Panthers strength in depth that counted. Substitutes Nikos Kalfas, with a thunderous drive, and Zac McLaren, both scored either side of a deft Phakdi Manda chip, as Panthers prevailed.
RESULTS
QUALIFICATION FINAL
Saturday 6 September
Canberra Croatia 2 (Green 45’, Vucetic 75’) Tigers FC 3 (Akio 18’ (p), 52’, Taneski 83’)
ELIMINATION FINAL
Saturday 6 September
Monaro Panthers 5 (Barac 18’, 22’, Kalfas 80’, Manda 87’, McLaren 90+3’) Tuggeranong United 1 (Walker 42’)
TOP SCORERS
20: Daniel BARAC (Monaro Panthers)
19: Nick PRATEZINA (Canberra Croatia)
16: Maxx GREEN (Canberra Croatia), Thomas JAMES (Canberra Croatia)
15: Steve NEALON (Tuggeranong United)
12: Stephen DOMENICI (Monaro Panthers)
11: William AKIO (Tigers FC)
10: Yoshida SHOKI (Gungahlin United)
8: Lukman AHMED-SHAIBU (O’Connor Knights/Tigers FC), Ayumu KIMURA (Gungahlin United), Connor MYNOTT-SMITH (Monaro Panthers), 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), Danny REID (Yoogali SC)
5: Darren BAILEY (Yoogali SC), Giancarlo D’ADDARIO (Gungahlin United), Aisosa IHEGIE (O’Connor Knights), Nik POPOVICH (Tigers FC), Daniel SUBASIC (Canberra Croatia), Robert TKATCHENKO (Monaro Panthers)
4: Ben BASSER-SILK (Monaro Panthers/Tigers FC), Ryan KEIR (Canberra Croatia), Christian KRESKAS (Monaro Panthers), Loick Bevan FOXALL (Tuggeranong United), LESPINASSE (Gungahlin United), Phakedi MANDA (Monaro Panthers/O’Connor Knights), Archie MCGREGOR (Tigers FC), Michael PICCOLO (Monaro Panthers / Canberra Croatia), Nik TANESKI (Tigers FC)
3: Mason DONADEL (Yoogali SC), Stefan DONADEL (Yoogali SC), Nikos KALFAS (Tigers FC/Monaro Panthers), Zac LAWRENCE (Tuggeranong United), Joshua MILICEVIC (Tigers FC), Misko NAUMOSKI (Queanbeyan City), Tomohiro OGAWA (Tigers FC), Thomas ROBERTSON (Gungahlin United), Noah STEINACKER (Tigers FC), Keegan VUCETIC (Canberra Croatia), Sam WHITEHEAR (Tigers FC)
2: Micheal ADAMS (O’Connor Knights), Gabriel AYUEL (Queanbeyan City), Angus BAILEY (Tigers FC / Gungahlin United), Augustine BANGURA (Tigers FC), Thomas BLAZEVSKI (Queanbeyan City), Daniel COLBERTALDO (Canberra Croatia), Dylan DEEP-JONES (Monaro Panthers), Abderrahim DELLAHI (Queanbeyan City), FERNANDO Jorquera (Monaro Panthers), Josh GASPARI (Gungahlin United), Marko JADRIC (Canberra Croatia), Romeo JAMBREK (Tuggeranong United), Jack LEVERETT (Queanbeyan City), Luca MACOR (Monaro Panthers), Harry MARTIN (O’Connor Knights), Zac MCLAREN (Monaro Panthers), Marko MILUTINOVIC (Tigers FC), Sam RACITI (Yoogali SC), Ryan STRAUB (Monaro Panthers), Sam WALKER (Tuggeranong United)
1: Connor BILL (O’Connor Knights), Seth BONNETT (Queanbeyan City), Fabian CACOPARDO (Yoogali SC), 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), Nathen MEGIC (Tigers FC), Alessandro PENA (Tuggeranong United), Jack PERAIC-CULLEN (Canberra Croatia), Euan PETERKIN (Tuggeranong United), 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), Shandon WHITEHEAD (Tigers FC), Riley ZSUZSA (Canberra Croatia)
TOP ASSISTS
24: Thomas JAMES (Canberra Croatia)
10: Christian KRESKAS (Monaro Panthers)
9: Daniel BARAC (Monaro Panthers), Maxx GREEN (Canberra Croatia)
8: Phakedi MANDA (Monaro Panthers/O’Connor Knights), Nick PRATEZINA (Canberra Croatia)
7: William AKIO (Tigers FC), Stephen DOMENICI (Monaro Panthers), Yoshida SHOKI (Gungahlin United)
6: Darren BAILEY (Yoogali SC), Nik TANESKI (Tigers FC)
5: Connor MYNOTT-SMITH (Monaro Panthers), Tony SPASESKI (Canberra Croatia), Keegan VUCETIC (Canberra Croatia)
4: Michael PICCOLO (Monaro Panthers/Canberra Croatia), Nik POPOVICH (Tigers FC), Danny REID (Yoogali SC), 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), Chaise DONETTO (Yoogali SC), James DRISCOLL (O’Connor Knights), Cole FALCO (Tuggeranong United), Aisosa IHEGIE (O’Connor Knights), Marko JADRIC (Canberra Croatia), Jack LEVERETT (Queanbeyan City), Archie MCGREGOR (Tigers FC), Joshua MILICEVIC (Tigers FC), Tomohiro OGAWA (Tigers FC), Noah STEINACKER (Tigers FC), Luke STEVENS (Tuggeranong United), Ryan STRAUB (Monaro Panthers), Nicholas SUBASIC (Canberra Croatia), Robert TKATCHENKO (Monaro Panthers), 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), Nic EMANUEL (Tuggeranong United), Bevan FOXALL (Tuggeranong United), Daniel GALIC (O’Connor Knights), Michael JOHN (O’Connor Knights), Nikos KALFAS (Tigers FC), Loick LESPINASSE (Gungahlin United), AJ MALAUULU (Gungahlin United), Josh PEDERSEN (Tuggeranong United), Alessandro PENA (Tuggeranong United), Marko RATHOUSKI (O’Connor Knights), Robbie RIMMER (Yoogali SC), Daniel ROBERTS (Queanbeyan City), Daniel SPARROW (Canberra Croatia),
1: Samuel ABA (Queanbeyan City), Niko ABOT (Queanbeyan City), Augustine BANGURA (Tigers FC), Ben BASSER-SILK (Monaro Panthers), Connor BILL (O’Connor Knights), Thomas BLAZEVSKI (Queanbeyan City), Seth BONNETT (Queanbeyan City), Sam BROWN (Canberra Croatia), Fabian CACOPARDO (Yoogali SC), 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), Jack ELLWOOD (Monaro Panthers), 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), Ayumu KIMURA (Gungahlin United), 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), Nicholas PRATEZINA (Canberra Croatia), Joe PREECE (Yoogali SC), Charlie RAE (Queanbeyan City), Sam ROESTBAKKEN (Monaro Panthers),Luke SAKAMOTO (Tuggeranong United), Tim SANTOS (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), Archie VARNES (Tuggeranong United), Sam WALKER (Tuggeranong United)
