A stunning solo goal from Clancy Hislop gave Tuggeranong United a 1-0 victory over Canberra Olympic, and relegated rivals West Canberra Wanderers in the process, as well as moving O’Connor Knights to within a point of the league title at Kambah 2.
Hislop weaved his way past two Olympic defenders on the edge of the penalty area before smashing a low right-footed drive beyond the reach of Olympic custodian Seb Usai before being engulfed in a sea of white and green hooped shirts and sending the home support into delirium.
The victory moved United eleven points clear of the Wanderers with only three matches to play meaning the men from Woden Valley are condemned to life in the Capital Premier League for the 2024 season. Olympic meanwhile dropped to third place on the league table, after Gungahlin overcame Tigers in their clash.
Hislop’s goal, his fifth of the season, also gave Tuggeranong the Adam Fry Memorial Shield, a trophy that is played for each year in memory of former Tuggeranong player Adam Fry and raises money for Epilepsy ACT.
O’Connor Knights recovered from a one-nil deficit to get to within touching distance of the league title following a 2-1 win over Monaro Panthers at the Riverside Stadium in the evening kick-off.
The Knights require one point to wrap up the League Championship, although they may not even need that considering their goal difference is so much better than Gungahlin United, the only team who can mathematically stop them.
Jenno Ceruti gave the Panthers the lead with a calmly taken goal, but they remain five points off fourth place with three games remaining and were left to bemoan a missed penalty, the usual unflappable Roko Strika blasting over the bar from the spot in the second-half.
Panthers levelled the scores when Micheal Adams reacted fastest to prod home from close range and won it when Lachlan Fields rampaged up the centre of the park, swapped passes, and thrashed home an unerring finish past Joran Thurtell, who had earlier created the Panthers goal with a long-range clearance.
Gungahlin United came from a goal down to defeat Tigers FC 2-1 and move above their opponents on the NPL table with what could prove to be a season defining moment for both teams at the Australian Institute of Sport.
Tigers opened the scoring right on the cusp of the half-time break when they were awarded a penalty following a free-kick from Julian Borgna that cannoned back off the wall and was adjudged to have been handball. Borgna took the responsibility and calmly finished from the spot.
Gungahlin were rocked, and yet they managed to recover and turned the game ion its head with a pair of goals within a minute in the second half. Barely seven minutes had elapsed when Gunners moved the ball into space for Philippe Bernabo-Madrid to fire a shot at goal that deflected past the stricken Jakob Cole.
Sixty seconds later it was the Habtemariam brothers who took the match by the scruff of the neck. Jeremy Habtemariam had no right to find the space he did out wide, jinking past a pair of Tigers defenders before lifting an inch-perfect cross to the far past where Samuel Habtemariam was on hand to nod home.
West Canberra Wanderers relegation to the second tier was confirmed on the Sunday afternoon at Deakin Stadium as Canberra Croatia withstood a spirited showing from the Woden side to claim an important 5-2 victory, spearheaded by a hat-trick from striker Stephen Domenici.
Domenici opened the scoring with a magnificently placed curling shot just before the midway point of the opening half, only for Patrick Shore to respond within two minutes to bring the scores level. An own goal from Christopher John restored Croatia’s lead, but incredibly Shore levelled again almost immediately.
A penalty, awarded for handball and summarily despatched by Domenici gave Croatia a half-time lead and, from that point on, Wanderers stay in the division appeared doomed. Wanderers attempted a riposte but were finally put to the sword by a superbly taken fourth from substitute Atiya Waraga.
There was still time for the coup de grace, Domenici acrobatically volleying in a wicked in swinging delivery from Daniel Sparrow to complete his treble and confirm Wanderers demotion.
RESULTS
ROUND 18
Saturday 12 August
Tigers FC 1 (Borgna 45’ (p)) Gungahlin United 2 (Bernabo-Madrid 52’, S. Habtemariam 53’)
Tuggeranong United 1 (C. Hislop 88’) Canberra Olympic 0
Monaro Panthers 1 (Ceruti 21’) O’Connor Knights 2 (Adams 32’, Fields 45+2’)
Sunday 13 August
Canberra Croatia 5 (Domenici 21’, 41’ (p), 90+1’, C. John 28’ (og), Waraga 76’) West Canberra Wanderers 2 (Shore 23’, 30’)
TABLE
| P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | ||
| 1 | O’Connor Knights | 18 | 13 | 3 | 2 | 48 | 18 | +30 | 42 |
| 2 | Gungahlin United | 18 | 10 | 3 | 5 | 48 | 36 | +12 | 33 |
| 3 | Canberra Olympic | 18 | 11 | 2 | 5 | 39 | 26 | =13 | 32 |
| 4 | Tigers FC | 18 | 10 | 2 | 6 | 49 | 39 | +10 | 32 |
| 5 | Canberra Croatia | 18 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 50 | 30 | +20 | 29 |
| 6 | Monaro Panthers | 18 | 9 | 1 | 8 | 31 | 24 | +7 | 28 |
| 7 | Tuggeranong United | 18 | 3 | 2 | 13 | 18 | 53 | -35 | 11 |
| 8 | West Canberra Wanderers | 18 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 15 | 72 | -57 | 0 |
TOP SCORERS
17 Maxx GREEN (Gungahlin United)
13 Stephen DOMENICI (Canberra Croatia)
12 Nik TANESKI (Tigers FC)
11 Roko STRIKA (Monaro Panthers)
10 Josh GULEVSKI (Tigers FC), Nik POPOVICH (Canberra Olympic)
9 Micheal ADAMS (O’Connor Knights), Lukman AHMED-SHAIBU (Canberra Croatia), Own GOALS
8 Aisosa IHEGIE (O’Connor Knights)
7 Josh GASPARI (Gungahlin United)
6 Philippe BERNABO-MADRID (Gungahlin United), Amilio KISTA (Tigers FC), Connor MYNOTT-SMITH (Monaro Panthers)
5 Luca FLOREZ (Canberra Olympic), Clancy HISLOP (Tuggeranong United), Thomas JAMES (Canberra Olympic), Niko KRESIC (O’Connor Knights), Phakedi MANDA (O’Connor Knights), Sam WALKER (Tuggeranong United), Sam WHITHEAR (Tigers FC)
4 Daniel BARAC (Canberra Croatia), Jenno CERUTI (Monaro Panthers), Alen JAMES (Canberra Olympic), Patrick O’ROURKE (O’Connor Knights), Patrick SHORE (West Canberra Wanderers), Regan WALSH (O’Connor Knights)
3 Lachlan FIELDS (O’Connor Knights), Jack GREEN (Gungahlin United), Micheal JOHN (Monaro Panthers), Luca MACOR (Canberra Olympic), Marko MILUTINOVIC (Tigers FC), Adam NEOU (Canberra Olympic), Michael PICCOLO (Canberra Croatia), Luke STEVENS (Tuggeranong United), Jason UGRINIC (Canberra Croatia)
2 Riley ANGELOSANTE (O’Connor Knights), Connor BILL (O’Connor Knights), Julian BORGNA (Tigers FC), Daniel COLBERTALDO (Canberra Croatia), FERNANDO Jorquera (Gungahlin United), Sam HABTEMARIAM (Gungahlin United), Beau HARVEY (Monaro Panthers), Nikos KALFAS (Tigers FC), Ryan KEIR (Canberra Croatia), Ed MCCARTHY (Tigers FC), Tom MCLACHLAN (Gungahlin United), Nathen MEGIC (Canberra Olympic), Jackson PAESLER (Gungahlin United), Kaz PATAFTA (Canberra Croatia), Kyle SENIOR (Tigers FC), Callum SMITH (Canberra Olympic), Daniel SPARROW (Canberra Croatia), Antoni TIMOTHEOU (Gungahlin United), Noah VANDERPOL (Canberra Croatia), Atiya WARAGA (Canberra Croatia)
1 Badreldin ABBAS (Gungahlin United), Joaquin ABOT (Tuggeranong United), Angus BAILEY (West Canberra Wanderers), Jake BISHOP (Tigers FC), Riley BROWN (West Canberra Wanderers), Lachlan CAMPBELL (O’Connor Knights), Kofi DANNING (Canberra Olympic), Elie DARWICH (Canberra Olympic), Dylan DEEP-JONES (Monaro Panthers), James DRISCOLL (O’Connor Knights), Dom GIAMPAOLO (Gungahlin United), Franc GRECO (Canberra Croatia), Patrick HISLOP (Tuggeranong United), Christian KRESKAS (Monaro Panthers), Tyson LIVERMORE (O’Connor Knights), Tony MADAFFARI (Tigers FC), Archie MCGREGOR (Monaro Panthers), Lewis MCKINNEY (Tuggeranong United), Zac MCLAREN (Monaro Panthers), Max MELLICK (Canberra Olympic), Misko NAUMOSKI (Gungahlin United), Tomohiro OGAWA (Tigers FC), Lasse OLRIK (Canberra Olympic), Harrison PALIC (O’Connor Knights), George PAVESE (West Canberra Wanderers), Euan PETERKIN (Tuggeranong United), Jordan REZEK (Tuggeranong United), Jayden RIPPON (West Canberra Wanderers), Nicholas ROUFOGALIS (West Canberra Wanderers), David SESELJA (Canberra Croatia), Tony SPASESKI (Canberra Croatia), Daniel SUBASIC (Canberra Croatia), Hristjan TANOSKI (Tigers FC), George TIMOTHEOU (Gungahlin United), Robert TKATCHENKO (Monaro Panthers), Harry TRUMAN (West Canberra Wanderers), Liam VICKERS (West Canberra Wanderers), Doug WOODIWISS (West Canberra Wanderers), Joshua YOUNG (West Canberra Wanderers)