The Champions O’Connor Knights received the NPL League Championship trophy following a masterclass attacking display as they romped to a 6-0 win in a dominating performance over West Canberra Wanderers at Gungahlin Enclosed Oval.
There was little doubt in the gulf in class between the top and bottom of the table as the Knights swept aside the Wanderers, the only surprise being that it took until midway through the first-half until they were able to open the scoring, Aisosa Ihegie running in the ball after Niko Kresic had lifted it over the advancing Philip Taleski.
Michael Adams swept home the second from a Regan Walsh cutback, before Kresic got a deserved third before the break as O’Connor eased their way to a fifteenth win of the season.
After the break Ihegie headed home the fourth from a corner, and it was the striker who laid the fifth on a plate, squaring for Adams to slide home after another excellent Knights break. Connor Bill rounded it all off, heading in off the post with ten minutes to play, setting the scene for Captain Adams to hoist the trophy high and spark the title celebrations.
Canberra Olympic secured their place in the top four by snagging a vital point in a 1-1 draw at home to Monaro Panthers at O’Connor Enclosed, a result that leaves the Panthers season hanging by a thread and needing results to go their way to make the end of season finals series.
The hosts hit the front in the 22nd minute as midfielder Adrian Macor was alert inside the six-yard box to steer a header past Panthers’ ‘keeper Jordan Thurtell and past a crowded area after Monaro were unable to clear a corner.
The equaliser arrived ten minutes into the second-half and wasn’t without its controversy. Olympic felt they should have had a free-kick in front of their technical area, but no whistle sounded and Roko Strika sparked an attack that he himself was to finish, poking the ball past Seb Usai at the end of a super move.
Tigers FC reignited their hopes of the top four, and perhaps importantly, boosted their goal difference as they returned from a trip to Kambah 2 with a 4-1 away win over Tuggeranong United.
The visitors led 3-1 at the interval having enjoyed a tremendous start to the match, scoring twice within two minutes to take a firm control on proceedings. Amilio Kista lashed home the first, pouncing on a United mistake, and then Sam Whithear made it two as he hammered home a shot from outside the area.
Lewis McKinney pulled one back for the home side from the penalty spot, his third goal of the season, but Tigers had restored their two-goal cushion by the half-time whistle as Ed McCarthy imperiously curled home a stunning finish from just inside the penalty area a minute from the interval.
The fourth goal, and the one that sealed the valuable points, was lashed in by Hristjan Tanoski, a simply stunning hit from way out that curled up and away from goalkeeper Pete Philippa in between the home posts. Tigers appear to love scoring world class goals at Kambah 2!
Canberra Croatia kept their dream of finals football alive until the final weekend of the season as they came from behind to record a 5-2 win over Gungahlin United in a match that was played in sheeting hail and rain for a spell in the opening half, forcing the officials to take the teams off the pitch for a short spell.
Philippe Bernabo-Madrid steered Gungahlin in front in only the fifth minute, only for Croatia to hit back when Tony Spaseski turned home a Daniel Colbertaldo drive to level the scores in the 20th minute, a prelude to the sensational second-half.
A header from Ryan Keir, the skipper nodding home from a corner, gave Croatia the lead which was extended when Lukman Ahmed-Shaibu fired home via a slight deflection. Antoni Timotheou swept home from the edge of the box to reduce the arrears in the 68th minute to set up a nervy finale.
Croatia needn’t have worried. Ahmed-Shaibu poked home a second, after a probing run and pass from Micheal Piccolo, before Stephen Domenici, summoned from the bench, broke clear to round it off with a minute to spare.
RESULTS
ROUND 20
Saturday 26 August
O’Connor Knights 6 (Ihegie 22’, 56’, Adams 25’, 65’, Kresic 38’, Bill 80’) West Canberra Wanderers 0
Canberra Olympic 1 (A. Macor 22’) Monaro Panthers 1 (Strika 55’)
Tuggeranong United 1 (McKinney 37’ (p)) Tigers FC 4 (Kista 12’, Whithear 14’, McCarthy 44’, Tanoski 88’)
Sunday 27 August
Gungahlin United 2 (Bernabo-Madrid 5’, A. Timotheou 68’) Canberra Croatia 5 (Spaseski 20’, Keir 55’, Ahmed-Shaibu 65’, 75’, Domenici 89’)
TABLE
| P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | ||
| 1 | O’Connor Knights | 20 | 15 | 3 | 2 | 55 | 18 | +37 | 48 |
| 2 | Canberra Olympic | 20 | 12 | 3 | 5 | 41 | 27 | +14 | 36 |
| 3 | Tigers FC | 20 | 11 | 2 | 7 | 53 | 41 | +12 | 35 |
| 4 | Gungahlin United | 20 | 10 | 3 | 7 | 50 | 42 | +8 | 33 |
| 5 | Canberra Croatia | 20 | 9 | 5 | 6 | 55 | 33 | +22 | 32 |
| 6 | Monaro Panthers | 20 | 10 | 2 | 8 | 33 | 25 | +8 | 32 |
| 7 | Tuggeranong United | 20 | 4 | 2 | 14 | 23 | 59 | -36 | 14 |
| 8 | West Canberra Wanderers | 20 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 17 | 82 | -65 | 0 |
TOP SCORERS
17 Maxx GREEN (Gungahlin United)
14 Stephen DOMENICI (Canberra Croatia)
12 Roko STRIKA (Monaro Panthers), Nik TANESKI (Tigers FC)
11 Lukman AHMED-SHAIBU (Canberra Croatia), Micheal ADAMS (O’Connor Knights), Nik POPOVICH (Canberra Olympic)
10 Josh GULEVSKI (Tigers FC), Aisosa IHEGIE (O’Connor Knights)
9 Own GOALS
7 Philippe BERNABO-MADRID (Gungahlin United), Josh GASPARI (Gungahlin United), Amilio KISTA (Tigers FC)
6 Clancy HISLOP (Tuggeranong United), Niko KRESIC (O’Connor Knights), Connor MYNOTT-SMITH (Monaro Panthers), Sam WALKER (Tuggeranong United), Sam WHITHEAR (Tigers FC)
5 Luca FLOREZ (Canberra Olympic), Thomas JAMES (Canberra Olympic), Phakedi MANDA (O’Connor Knights)
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 Connor BILL (O’Connor Knights), Lachlan FIELDS (O’Connor Knights), Jack GREEN (Gungahlin United), Micheal JOHN (Monaro Panthers), Ryan KEIR (Canberra Croatia), Luca MACOR (Canberra Olympic), Ed MCCARTHY (Tigers FC), Lewis MCKINNEY (Tuggeranong United), Marko MILUTINOVIC (Tigers FC), Adam NEOU (Canberra Olympic), Michael PICCOLO (Canberra Croatia), Luke STEVENS (Tuggeranong United), Antoni TIMOTHEOU (Gungahlin United), Jason UGRINIC (Canberra Croatia)
2 Riley ANGELOSANTE (O’Connor Knights), Julian BORGNA (Tigers FC), Daniel COLBERTALDO (Canberra Croatia), James DRISCOLL (O’Connor Knights), FERNANDO Jorquera (Gungahlin United), Sam HABTEMARIAM (Gungahlin United), Beau HARVEY (Monaro Panthers), Nikos KALFAS (Tigers FC), Tom MCLACHLAN (Gungahlin United), Nathen MEGIC (Canberra Olympic), Jackson PAESLER (Gungahlin United), Kaz PATAFTA (Canberra Croatia), Nicholas ROUFOGALIS (West Canberra Wanderers), Kyle SENIOR (Tigers FC), Callum SMITH (Canberra Olympic), Daniel SPARROW (Canberra Croatia), Tony SPASESKI (Canberra Croatia), Hristjan TANOSKI (Tigers FC), Robert TKATCHENKO (Monaro Panthers), Noah VANDERPOL (Canberra Croatia), Atiya WARAGA (Canberra Croatia), Doug WOODIWISS (West Canberra Wanderers)
1 Badreldin ABBAS (Gungahlin United), Joaquin ABOT (Tuggeranong United), Angus BAILEY (West Canberra Wanderers), Dylan BERKREY (Tuggeranong United), 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), Dom GIAMPAOLO (Gungahlin United), Franc GRECO (Canberra Croatia), Patrick HISLOP (Tuggeranong United), Christian KRESKAS (Monaro Panthers), Tyson LIVERMORE (O’Connor Knights), Adrian MACOR (Canberra Olympic), Tony MADAFFARI (Tigers FC), Archie MCGREGOR (Monaro Panthers), 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), David SESELJA (Canberra Croatia), Daniel SUBASIC (Canberra Croatia), George TIMOTHEOU (Gungahlin United), Harry TRUMAN (West Canberra Wanderers), Liam VICKERS (West Canberra Wanderers), Joshua YOUNG (West Canberra Wanderers)