Canberra FC ripped apart bottom club Tuggeranong United with six of the best at Kambah 2 in Round 14 of the PlayStation 4® NPL Capital Football.
Saturday 18th July
Belconnen United 2 (Jason Ugrinic 48’, Aisosa Ihegie 63’) FFA COE 2 (Nicholas Panetta 4’, Cameron Joice 45+3’)
A goal from substitute Aisosa Ihegie completed a comeback and rescued a point for Belconnen United as they were held to a 2-2 draw by the FFA Centre of Excellence at McKellar Park on Saturday evening.
Ihegie knocked in his sixth goal of the season within seconds of his introduction off the replacements bench in a tactical masterstroke by Blue Devils coach Dean Ugrinic. Up until then it had appeared that the FFA COE were all set to leapfrog their opponents on the PlayStation 4 National Premier Leagues: Capital Football ladder after claiming a two-goal lead in the first half.
The visitors had made a bright start to the fixture and took the lead in the fourth minute as prolific striker Nicholas Panetta moved onto double figures for the season with his tenth goal of a productive campaign. Belconnen, who are chasing the league title and started the day a point behind the leaders Tigers FC, responded well but the FFA COE appeared to have landed a killer blow in first half stoppage time when Cameron Joice scored his fifth goal of the season.
Whatever was said in the changing rooms during the interval certainly seemed to work as a regalvanised Belconnen United emerged from the sheds to immediately set about repairing the damage. They needed an early goal, and they got it via a seventh strike this term from the effervescent Jason Ugrinic.
That set the scene nicely for the home side to complete the comeback as Ihegie, who has enjoyed a spectacular breakthrough season at this level, netted the leveller to increase his ‘super-sub’ status even further.
Sunday 19th July
Gungahlin United 4 (Stephen Domenici 10’, Josh Gaspari 13’, 78’, Shane Murray 45’ (pen)) Monaro Panthers 2 (Tyson Cottam 66’, Michael Mensah 87’ (pen))
A performance of two halves marked Gungahlin United’s 4-2 win over Monaro Panthers in the PlayStation 4® National Premier Leagues at Gungahlin Enclosed on a cool but sunny Sunday afternoon.
Whilst the first forty-five minutes saw a rampant Gunners rip through the Panthers like a hot knife through butter, the second forty-five saw a lackadaisical approach and more than a hint of complacency allow Monaro back into a game in which they should have been buried.
The writing was on the wall for the Panthers early on as Gungahlin raced into a 2-0 lead before a quarter of an hour had been played. Stephen Domenici’s seventh goal of the season gave Gungahlin the lead in the tenth minute and it was 2-0 three minutes later as Josh Gaspari rattled in the second.
By the half-time break the match, as a contest, was surely over as Gungahlin was awarded a penalty and set-piece expert Shane Murray confidently scored from the spot. At 3-0, and with plenty more chances wasted, it should have been game over. However Monaro recovered best from the half-time break and reduced the deficit when Tyson Cottam netted in the 66th minute.
That sparked a little more life from a lethargic Gungahlin and Gaspari crunched his second of the afternoon, and third of the season, shortly afterwards. That meant the destination of the points was safe, but there was still more time for the Panthers to pull one more back as Michael Mensah registered from the penalty spot with time running out.
Tuggeranong United 0 Canberra FC 6 (Thomas Milicevic 18’, Ian Graham 30’, Daniel Bennett 53’, Thomas James 68’, 70’, Josip Jadric 90’)
The red machine scores half a dozen without reply to move back into contention for the league championship title firing out a warning shot that they have returned from Croatia fresh and prepared for the run in.
If there was any jet-lag lingering from their post-Zagreb jaunt it was quickly dispelled early on. The visitors took the lead in the eighteenth minute when Thomas Milicevic found space to rifle home the opener. And they didn’t have long to wait to go further ahead as midfield dynamo Ian Graham made it 2-0 before the half-time break.
Tuggeranong had a couple of half-chances themselves but in the main it was FC in control of the match. After the break FC upped their tempo and made the points safe in the 53rd minute when Daniel Bennett met a cross with a wicked first time volley that fairly scorched into the net past the despairing Rowan Forbes-Shepherd in the Tuggeranong goal.
It was to get worse for the home team when FC added a brace of further goals within minutes of each other. Thomas James latched onto a Graham through ball to make it five before the English striker begged his twelfth of the season in the 70th minute. The comprehensive result was concluded in stoppage time when substitute Josip Jadric powered a shot in off the underside of the crossbar to round off an impressively ruthless display from Zoran Glavinic’s team.
Canberra Olympic 5 (Jordan Tsekenis 18’, 36’, Robbie Cattanach 39’, Callum Smith 64’, Oliver Wiederkehr 84’) Woden-Weston FC 0
Canberra Olympic roared back into contention at the top of the PlayStation 4® National Premier Leagues: Capital Football with a 5-0 hammering of Woden-Weston FC at O’Connor Enclosed on Sunday afternoon.
Olympic looked particularly classy in attack against a Woden-Weston FC team that struggled to contain their pace and movement with some of the play in the final third top class. The home side had the match virtually done and dusted by half-time as they sauntered into a three-goal lead.
The opener was a demonstration of their skill with a slick one-two opening up a gap for Jordan Tsekenis to slide the ball past Chris Trajanoski for a cracking opener. The second was even better. Bernard Rene put in a lung bursting run through the Woden-Weston FC midfield before laying off to Tsekenis who drilled a delightful finish into the top corner. And it got even better for an irresistible Olympic just three minutes later as Robbie Cattanach was found by Adrian Macor and the former Tiger lashed in his seventh goal of the season.
From here Olympic threatened a rout but it didn’t quite materialise as Woden-Weston FC stood form in the second half. A quick thinking free-kick from Callum Smith, curling the ball into the net when everyone else was static, made it 4-0 before substitute Oliver Wiederkehr marked his return to the squad for the first time in over a year with a fifth with six minutes to play.
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