Three big results were all felt on the table in a smaller Round 9 of PlayStation 4 NPL Capital Football.
Woden-Weston FC 2 (Daniel Crkovski 23’, 41’)def. by Tigers FC 4 (Nicolas Abot 18’, 82’, 85’, Mark Shields 73’)
Tigers FC climbed to within one point of the top four on Saturday as a dominant second-half helped them to a 4-2 win over Woden-Weston FC.
The match started off as a battle with neither side able to properly gain the upper hand, but Tigers slowly began to take over as time wore on and took the lead after 17 minutes.
An initial effort found the post of the home side’s goal, but Nicolas Abot was on hand to knock home the rebound to give the visitors the upper hand. They were immediately on the back foot though as Woden-Weston looked to hit back, and Daniel Crokovski continued his impressive recent form as he levelled proceedings with a great strike from outside the box six minutes later.
The game slowed down after the equaliser as both sides look to plot their next move, but chances were hard to come by and as the clock approached the half it looked like it may stay 1-1 at the break. However, that was not to be, as Crkovski raced into a one-on-one with four minutes until the half and tucked his shot into the net after Francis Bangweni got a touch to his first effort.
Abot had a good chance just after the break to level the score but he was unable to, and Woden-Weston began to work themselves back on top. However, they were unable to finish a number of chances, and were made to rue those errors as Mark Shields rose highest to meet Goran Josifovski’s cross and head home to even the scores.
Abot missed a great chance a minute later, but grabbed his second four minutes, volleying home to give his side the lead as they charged to the finish. And he sealed the game with eight minutes to play as Daniel Barac was gifted the ball from a defensive error, and he laid it off for Abot to complete his hat-trick and round off the 4 – 2 win.
Belconnen United 0 def. by FFA Centre of Excellence 1 (Louis D’Arrigo 94’)
A late goal from Louis D’Arrigo gave the FFA Centre of Excellence a 1-0 win on Saturday and handed Belconnen United their second defeat in a row.
With the match poised goalless and heading for the first 0-0 draw of the season, a loose ball fell to the youngster on the edge of the box and he made no mistake with a clinical finish.
Full report here.
Canberra FC 1 (Kye Edwards 37’), def. by Gungahlin United 2 (Jason O’Dwyer 38’, Jack Green 55’)
A second half header from captain Jack Green gave Gungahlin United an upset 2-1 win over Canberra FC on Sunday and pushed them into title contention.
The visitors started the stronger of the two sides but were unable to make chances count, instead missing a number of opportunities to go ahead. Canberra FC made them pay for that as they struck first, with former Gungahlin junior Kye Edwards opening the scoring after 37 minutes with a neat finish for the home team.
But United hit back just a minute later, as Michael Rinaudo sent Jason O’Dwyer scurrying through behind the defence to tuck the ball across Sam Brown in goals.
Level at the half, the game was there for the taking, and the visitors did just that ten minutes into the second half. Green rose above the pack at a set piece to thunder home a header and hand his side a surprising lead at Deakin.
Canberra FC weren’t done though, and began to throw everything at United to get back into the match but were unable to make chances count.
A number of key saves from Jason Denham in goals helped keep the advantage for the visitors as the game wore on and FC threw everything at them. But United held on, and secured a victory that puts them within touching distance of the ladder leaders.