Yoogali SC created their own slice of National Premier League history at the Riverside Stadium as they collected their first-ever NPL point following a battling display to earn a 0-0 draw against Monaro Panthers on a still Saturday evening in the Nation’s Capital city.
The visitors from Griffith were well worth their point, more than holding their own against their higher-ranked opposition and might even have come away with all three bar a magnificent save from goalkeeper Jacob Quinn as Joshua De Rossi attempted to chip the Panthers custodian, selected ahead of Finn Jurak, from just inside the Monaro half.
Quinn reacted with stunning agility to arc backwards and palm the shot over the crossbar with the ground waiting with bated breath. Earlier De Rossi had struck the outside of the post. Striker Ben Townsley went close with a similar effort moments later, albeit with less accuracy than his midfield colleague, however a goal would have been just reward for an industrious, tireless, stint from the front man.
Everywhere you looked, the players entrusted with the yellow jersey were superb. Rallying together defensively, and attacking when the opportunity arose, with midfield general Jacob Donadel putting in a mountain of work in a stellar display. Further back goalkeeper Michael De Paoli was also in top form.
The man between the sticks may be advancing in years but showed athleticism of a man half his age in repelling a brace of bullet headers from Panthers defender Adam De Franceschi in the opening stanza, the second of which was a save out of the top drawer and one of the best seen in the competition this season.
In all, this was an engaging and exciting draw, a game that might have gone either way, indeed substitute Dylan Deep-Jones ought to have scored when heading over, but one which left Yoogali clinging on to their NPL survival dreams whilst the Panthers will see this as two points dropped in their quest to close the gap on the table-topping title favourites.
Gungahlin United moved five-points clear of the chasing pack by the end of Saturday evening as they accounted for Canberra Olympic, proving too good for the home team as they cruised to a 3-0 win in front of a sparse crowd on a perfect afternoon for football at O’Connor Enclosed.
The Gunners were always in control of the destination of the points once they had found a way past the deep-lying Olympic defensive block, but it still took two moments of magic from the visiting team to pave the way for another win as Gungahlin struck two inside half-an-hour.
The opener was a thing of beauty from top-scorer Lukman Ahmed-Shaibu who was able to find room where none existed and find a finish out of the blue, right into the top corner and out of the reach of Sebastian Usai who could do nothing but admire the quality of the sixteen-goal NPL Golden Boot leader.
If the first was class, the second was right up there with it as, not for the first time in 2024, Jeremy Habtemariam showed his set-piece prowess. Given the opportunity twenty-five metres from goal, Habtemariam arced a sensational strike up and over the Olympic defensive wall, crashing his effort high into the roof of the net for a simply sublime goal.
There was more to come before ethe break as Gunners grabbed a third. Antoni Timotheou was unfortunate to see his blockbuster shot cannon back off Ahmed-Shaibu but, when the ball fell to winger Daniel Olaoye, there was only one outcome as he wrong-footed Usai to sweep home the third.
More could have followed in the second-half, Ahmed-Shaibu blazed over when put through on an angle within a minute of the restart, before the American forward saw a goal disallowed for offside after substitute Augustine Bangura had poked a pass into his path.
A tale of three penalties at Kambah 2 saw O’Connor Knights pilfer all three points from Tuggeranong United for the second time this season late on, the Knights repeating the feat they achieved at O’Connor Enclosed by scoring in stoppage time to win the match when a point appeared to be all they would receive for their efforts.
Micheal Adams was the man for the moment for the Knights, stepping up calmly on both occasions to net from the spot, the second of which was recorded in the seventh minute of time added on. Adams sent Callum Cook the wrong way to win it for O’Connor, after the visitors were awarded the penalty for a handball.
Earlier, the Knights had hit the front from a penalty, Adams converting twelve minutes into the second stanza after the officials had adjudged a foul inside the box, United convinced they had won the ball in the incident that led to the award. The Knights skipper made no mistake.
If that was contentious for Tuggeranong, the penalty awarded to the home side with five minutes left fitted right into the same category. Connor Bill was penalised when midfielder Bevan Foxall appeared to run into the central defender, the referee adjudicating that Bill had baulked the runner and pointing to the spot.
Teenage striker Steve Nealon kept his cool to fire low into the corner, Seb Arranz getting a hand on the ball but unable to keep it out. That set the scene for the drama at the end of the contest, Foxall seeing red for his protestations at the signalling of the third penalty, a second yellow card heading his way.
Canberra Croatia came from 0-1 behind to claim a vital three points and close the gap on leaders Gungahlin United to two, much like the Knights, as they came out on top 3-1 against Tigers FC in an exciting match at Deakin Stadium. The home team netted three times in the final twenty-two minutes to secure the victory.
In a match in which both goalkeepers, Sam Brown for the home side and Jakob Cole for the visitors, played their 150th NPL match, chances were at a premium for both teams as defending was the order of the day. Both rearguards were in terrific form, nullifying any attacking thrusts before they had the chance to progress into a threatening phase.
It took a moment of inspiration from midfielder Josh Milicevic to break the deadlock, the diminutive midfield maestro intercepting an attempted pass and advancing to shoot low and hard at goal. The ball spat off the Deakin surface just in front of Brown, careering over his arms and into the bottom corner of the net.
Having introduced both Daniel Colbertaldo and Thomas James into the fray at half-time, Croatia struck back with a fine goal. Marco Gayer and Daniel Barac played their part in the build-up which culminated with James laying off a pass into the path of the onrushing Keegan Vucetic who struck a venomous effort into the side-netting for a tremendous equaliser.
Suddenly, the momentum shifted and when Barac was upended by Cole, the forward reaching the ball first in the fifty-fifty race, the home team turned the match on its head. Barac dusted himself off to step up and roll the spot-kick nonchalantly down the middle to send the home fans happy.
There was to come close to full-time. Cole miraculously denied the in-form Atiya Waraga with a stunning close-range stop two minutes from full-time but was powerless to prevent Vucetic lapping up the rebound as the midfielder tapped home from five metres to seal the win.
RESULTS
ROUND 14
Saturday 13 July
Canberra Olympic 0 Gungahlin United 3 (Ahmed-Shaibu 9’, J. Habtemariam 28’, Olaoye 40’)
Monaro Panthers 0 Yoogali SC 0
Sunday 14 July
Tuggeranong United 1 (Nealon 85’ (p)) O’Connor Knights 2 (Adams 57’ (p), 90+7’ (p))
Canberra Croatia 3 (Vucetic 68’, 88’, Barac 85’ (p)) Tigers FC 1 (Milicevic 55’)
TABLE
| P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | ||
| 1 | Gungahlin United* | 14 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 40 | 15 | +25 | 31 |
| 2 | Canberra Croatia | 14 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 36 | 19 | +17 | 29 |
| 3 | O’Connor Knights | 14 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 28 | 20 | +8 | 29 |
| 4 | Tigers FC** | 14 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 32 | 17 | +16 | 24 |
| 5 | Monaro Panthers | 14 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 21 | 14 | +7 | 22 |
| 6 | Tuggeranong United | 14 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 22 | 25 | -3 | 18 |
| 7 | Canberra Olympic | 14 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 20 | 42 | -22 | 6 |
| 8 | Yoogali SC | 14 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 7 | 53 | -46 | 1 |
TOP SCORERS
16: Lukman AHMED-SHAIBU (Gungahlin United)
8: Atiya WARAGA (Canberra Croatia)
7: Daniel BARAC (Canberra Croatia)
6: Micheal ADAMS (O’Connor Knights), Nick PRATEZINA (Canberra Croatia), Roko STRIKA (Monaro Panthers), Own GOALS
5: Augustine BANGURA (Gungahlin United), Luca FLOREZ (Canberra Olympic), Aisosa IHEGIE (O’Connor Knights), Michael KATSOULIS (Gungahlin United), Archie MCGREGOR (Tigers FC), Steve NEALON (Tuggeranong United), Keegan VUCETIC (Canberra Croatia)
4: Ben BASSER-SILK (Monaro Panthers), Jenno CERUTI (Monaro Panthers), Stephen DOMENICI (Canberra Olympic), Jeremy HABTEMARIAM (Gungahlin United), Nikos KALFAS (Tigers FC), Davaadelger OKTYABRI (Tuggeranong United), Jackson PAESLER (O’Connor Knights), Shandon WHITEHEAD (Gungahlin United)
3: Alen JAMES (Canberra Olympic/O’Connor Knights), Amilio KISTA (Tigers FC), Niko KRESIC (O’Connor Knights), Joshua MILICEVIC (Tigers FC), Tomohiro OGAWA (Tigers FC), Daniel OLAOYE (Gungahlin United), Daniel SPARROW (Canberra Croatia), Nik TANESKI (Tigers FC), Sam WALKER (Tuggeranong United)
2: Joshua DE ROSSI (Yoogali SC), Nic EMANUEL (Tuggeranong United), Michael JOHN (Canberra Olympic), Tyson LIVERMORE (Monaro Panthers), Patrick O’ROURKE (O’Connor Knights), Joshua PEDERSEN (Tuggeranong United), Niko PERINOVIC (O’Connor Knights), Michael PICCOLO (Canberra Croatia), Jordan REZEK (Tuggeranong United), ROMEO (Gungahlin United), Daniel SUBASIC (Canberra Croatia), Harry TRUMAN (Canberra Olympic)
1: Angus BAILEY (Tigers FC), Jack BITANI (Tigers FC), Samson CARR (Tigers FC), Izach CLEMENTS (Canberra Olympic), Elie DARWICH (Canberra Olympic), Adam DE FRANCESCHI (Monaro Panthers), James DRISCOLL (O’Connor Knights), Lachlan FIELDS (O’Connor Knights), Bevan FOXALL (Tuggeranong United), Axel GARBIN (Yoogali SC), Jack GREEN (Gungahlin United), Marley JACKSON (Tigers FC), Thomas JAMES (Canberra Croatia), Christopher JOHN (Yoogali SC), Chirstian KRESKAS (Monaro Panthers), Jack LEVERETT (Tuggeranong United), Santiago LUPINO (Monaro Panthers), Zac MCLAREN (Monaro Panthers), Marko MILUTINOVIC (Tigers FC), Shinzaburo NAKAYAMA (Canberra Olympic), Alessandro PENA (Tigers FC), Euan PETERKIN (Tuggeranong United), Sam ROESTBAKKEN (Canberra Olympic), David SESELJA (Canberra Croatia), Patrick SHORE (Canberra Olympic), Julian SMITH (Gungahlin United), Michael SOUTHAM (Tigers FC), Tony SPASESKI (Canberra Croatia), Luke STEVENS (Tuggeranong United), Antoni TIMOTHOEU (Gungahlin United), Kristian TOKIC (O’Connor Knights), Sam WHITHEAR (Tigers FC), Ryan ZANATTA (Yoogali SC)
*Gungahlin United deducted three points for field an ineligible player in the 3-0 win against Tigers FC
**Tigers FC awarded a 3-0 win, and three points, for Gungahlin United fielding an ineligible player
