Wagga City Wanderers excellent recent run of form continued as they scored twice late-on to see off thew visiting White Eagles by 4-3 in an astonishing match, played at Gissing Oval in the Riverina.
A sixteenth goal of the season from joint Golden Boot leader Cuneyt Caglar had the Eagles soaring in the 20th minute but Wagga responded quickly and were level within three minutes as Jacob Ochieng struck.
It was Ochieng who gave the Wanderers the lead, the lively forward scoring his sixth of the season to put the hosts ahead at the break and set up a startling last sixteen minutes of drama.
Kenrick Beuth drew Eagles back on terms in the 74th minute only for the in-form Morris Kadzola to restore Wagga’s lead with eight minutes to play. A second for Kadzola, and a ninth of the season had Wagga 4-2 to the good and, despite a last minute goal from Zac Lawrence, it was enough to secure a memorable victory.
ANU FC kept third place on the ladder by virtue of goal difference as they battled their way past a belligerent Yoogali SC, claiming the three points with a narrow 2-1 success.
Carl Hynes gave the University side the lead five minutes into the second half after the teams had played out a goalless stalemate up until the interval, with chances for both coming and going.
Chasing a top-four spot, ANU FC gave themselves a cushion as former Canberra Croatia marksman Rory Spiers made it two and, despite an injury time goal from Isaac Donadel causing a few palpitations in the closing stages, ANU held on for a vital success.
Queanbeyan City kept the pressure on Tuggeranong United ahead of the leaders’ home clash on the Sunday afternoon, reducing the deficit at the top with a comprehensive 4-0 away win at the always difficult Ipan Park, home of Brindabella Blues.
City needed a statement win and they got it sweeping aside a Blues team that often gives them issues with a brace of goals inside the opening sixteen minutes of the contest, a perfect start to what was to follow.
Michael Mensah gave Queanbeyan the lead after only five minutes and the lead was doubled when Hussein Fureje made it the perfect start for Goran Josifovski and his team as City took a stranglehold on the contest.
Second half goals from defensive stalwarts Mark Walker and Vasko Petrovski added gloss to the scoreboard and showed that City, despite a difficult recent run of form, are still well in with a shout of that promotion spot.
Tuggeranong United regained their four-point cushion at the top of the table with a competent 6-0 win over Weston-Molonglo FC at Kambah 2 to leave themselves in pole position for promotion, also having a game in hand.
As usual, United were out of the blocks in a flash as Patrick Hislop gave them the lead in the seventh minute before Sam Walker, Tuggeranong’s leading scorer, doubled the lead with only sixteen minutes played.
The Magpies were more solid than the previous meeting with United, but Hislop netted a second before the interval to seal the points. Walker made it four with his 16th of the campaign, joining Caglar on top of the Golden Boot standings, before Mark Richards added a fifth with nineteen minutes to play.
There was still time for Hislop to claim a treble, completing his hat-trick in the final minute and moving onto eight goals for the 2022 season as United marched inexorably on.
RESULTS
ROUND 15
Saturday 30 July
Wagga City Wanderers 4 (Ochieng 23’, 37’, Kadzola 82’ (p), 87’) White Eagles 3 (Caglar 20’, Beuth 74’, Lawrence 90’)
Brindabella Blues 0 Queanbeyan City 4 (Mensah 5’, Fureje 16’, Walker 54’, Petrovski 74’)
ANU FC 2 (C. Hynes 50’, Spiers 63’) Yoogali SC 1 (I. Donadel 90’)
Sunday 31 July
Tuggeranong United 6 (Hislop 7’, 45’, 90’, Walker 16’, 65’, Richards 71’) Weston-Molonglo FC 0
TABLE
P | W | D | L | GD | PTS | ||
1 | Tuggeranong United | 14 | 11 | 1 | 2 | +44 | 34 |
2 | Queanbeyan City | 15 | 9 | 3 | 3 | +17 | 30 |
3 | ANU FC | 15 | 8 | 1 | 6 | +8 | 25 |
4 | Wagga City Wanderers | 15 | 8 | 1 | 6 | -8 | 25 |
5 | Brindabella Blues | 15 | 6 | 3 | 6 | -4 | 21 |
6 | White Eagles | 14 | 6 | 2 | 6 | +17 | 20 |
7 | Yoogali SC | 15 | 4 | 3 | 8 | -9 | 15 |
8 | Weston-Molonglo FC | 15 | 0 | 0 | 15 | -59 | 0 |
PHOTO: The Daily Advertiser