Tigers FC remain on top of the ladder at the end of Round 15, taking maximum points against Tuggeranong United FC in Cooma.
Saturday 25th July
FFA COE 1 (Charlie Devereux 39’) Woden-Weston FC 0
A solitary goal from Charlie Devereux helped FFA COE take the points in a hard fought encounter with a much-improved Woden Weston at the AIS on Saturday afternoon. Woden Weston came into the game having conceding 20 goals in its last five game and was also missing several first team players through injury and suspension. The FFA COE on the other hand was keen to continue to put in a dominant performance after failing to find the knockout goal against Belconnen United last weekend. The FFA COE quickly settled into their rhythm and dominated possession with Woden happy to absorb pressure and play on the counter. After a tight opening, the AIS took the lead with a classy free kick by Devereux. With the FFA COE looking to put the game to bed, Woden found itself with plenty of space to attack on the counter and if with a bit more poise upfront could have found itself even going into the break. The game continued with much the same pattern in the second half with the FFA COE maintaining a stranglehold on possession but struggled to breakdown a stubborn and well-organised Woden defence. Similarly, Woden pushed on the counter but could not make anything of the few chances it had with the FFA COE doing enough to hold on for a deserved win against a much-improved Woden.
Sunday 26th July
Canberra FC 3 (Daniel Bennett 2, Dominic Giampaolo) Gungahlin United FC 2 (Shane Murray (pen), Daniel Barac)
Canberra FC showed that they are genuine title contenders at Deakin Stadium on Saturday, with a hard-earned victory over fellow heavyweights Gungahlin United. Deakin came out in the first half and controlled majority of the game and it was no surprise when they took the lead. A well-worked pass into the feet of Thomas James saw the striker back heel the ball over the Gungahlin defence. Dominic Giampoalo arrived to the ball first and headed over an onrushing Jason Denham. Gungahlin came out firing in the second half, dominating play and applying pressure on the FC defence. Unfortunately, they were rewarded with a goal against the run of play, with Daniel Bennett scoring with his left foot after wonderful service from Ian Graham. Gungahlin got one back through Daniel Barac, with the striker eventually finishing after a good ball from Michael John. The Gunners soon completed their comeback when John was fouled in the box and Shane Murray dispatched from the spot. The game could have gone either way at this point, but it was Bennett that stepped up for FC. Assisted by Giampaolo, Bennett finished with the right foot to take the points.
Tigers FC 5 (Jeremias Ibarra 7’, Julian Borgna 37’, Alex Oloriegbe 46’, 66’, Joes Delfilipe 91’) Tuggeranong UNITED FC 0
The home side got off to a quick start with Jeremias Ibarra finishing expertly to score after only 7 minutes. Tuggeranong were in the match at this point, fighting for every ball and competing well and maybe unfortunate not to receive a penalty. Julian Borgna added a second goal before the half time break, with the lively forward scoring after good build up play and really crushing the away team’s hopes. As they did in the first half, the Tigers came out quick and scored through the competition’s leading goal score, Alex Oloriegbe. The striker had his brace 20 minutes later, scoring his 16th of the campaign with a thunderous effort on a tight angle. A cracking strike from a free kick to Jose Delfilipe in stoppage time finished the game.
Canberra Olympic 4 (Callum Smith 14’, Jordan Tsekenis 24’, 55’, 89’) Monaro Panthers FC 0
Jordan Tsekenis is quickly finding his feet playing as an outright striker for Canberra Olympic, scoring a hat-trick against Monaro after his double in round 14. Olympic were clearly the better team and took the lead through Callum Smith after 14 minutes. They were helped even more when Monaro’s centre half, Michael Mensah, was shown his marching orders following a bad tackle on Daniel Colbertaldo. Tsekensis finished from the spot to score the his first of the afternoon. His second was scored shortly after half time and had Olympic cruising to victory. It wasn’t all good news though, with veteran ‘keeper Ange Konstantinou shown the second red card of the game, when he was adjudged to have deliberately handballed outside the area. This will be a big loss for Olympic heading to a huge match in round 16 against Canberra FC. Lucky for the home team, they had Robbie Cattanach to go in goals, with the reigning player-of-the-year showing he can play in any position! Tsekenis then complete the treble.
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