NPL Round 4 Wrap
Woden-Weston 1 (Alex Oloriegbe 46’) def. by Tigers FC 3 (Nico Abot 30’, 45+2’, 65’)
Tigers FC maintained their unbeaten record in the league, fighting off a determined Woden-Weston outfit at Melrose on Saturday afternoon to make it four wins from four.
Nico Abot scored a hat-trick to keep his season tally climbing up, beginning in the 30th minute as Tigers broke up a Woden-Weston move from the back. The ball was fed out to the left before a lovely flat cross found Abot lurking unmarked at the back post to tap home.
He got his second in stoppage time of the first-half, getting his head to a free-kick from the far side and delivering a big blow to the Wanderers so late in the half. They responded brilliantly though and needed only eight seconds in the second half to do so, Alex Oloriegbe and Martin Deng catching Tigers unaware as they charged forward from kick-off with Oloriegbe netting at the end of the move.
The Wanderers kept on the front foot but lost momentum when the game was stopped just after the hour mark, and Tigers pounced minutes later as Tony Madaffari swung in a cross to the head of Abot that he nodded past Willem Lejeune to seal the three points.
Tigers will host the Rhinos at Nijong next Saturday while Woden-Weston will be keen to bounce back when they face Canberra FC at Deakin.
Gungahlin United 3 (Josh Gaspari 17’, Riley Angelosante 30’, Lachlan Griffiths 35’)def. Monaro Panthers 0
Three goals in a blitzkrieg 20 minute period at the AIS on Sunday was enough for Gungahlin United to grab a second straight win and move off the bottom of the NPL Capital Football ladder.
Josh Gaspari got Gunners off the mark in stunning fashion, smashing home an effort from the edge of the area after the ball was squared to him. Monaro looked to fight back but on the half hour mark Gungahlin made it two thanks to Riley Angelosante.
Michael John made a driving run through midfield right to the edge of the box that drew the Monaro defenders, and John slipped the ball out left to Misko Naumoskiwho simply passed the ball across for Angelosante to finish easily.
Five minutes later it was three for the hosts, this time Lachlan Griffiths was the first to pounce on a loose ball from a corner and he tucked the ball home from close range.
That blistering first half was enough for United to finish winners by three goals, but the second half featured an unfortunate incident for the Panthers as Stefan Todoroski was stretchered from the pitch after colliding with his goalkeeper.
Monaro will look to get back to winning ways when they take on Canberra Olympic next weekend, while Gungahlin will host Belconnen United at the AIS.
Canberra FC 2 (Daniel Subasic 53’, Mat Grbesa 83’) v Belconnen United 3 (Michael Taurasi 8’, Phil Borgeaud 26’, Sam Whithear 76’)
By Tim Warren
Belconnen United collected their second win of the 2019 Capital NPL season with a solid 3-2 win over Canberra FC at Deakin Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
After a slow start to the season, both Belconnen and Canberra FC were keen to get the three points, however, it was the away side who got off to the best start.
After a frantic opening period to the game, Belconnen United opened the scoring in 8th minute through a clever Michael Taurasi chip finding the net from the corner of the six-yard box.
The Blue Devils doubled their advantage not too long after, with Phil Borgeaud’s header at the back-post bouncing over Canberra FC keeper Jordan Thurtell in the 26th minute.
Taking a 2-0 lead into the break, United’s lead was quickly reduced just minutes into the second-half.
Belconnen United’s Brad Waters received a temporary dismissal from the referee for dissent, which earned him a ten-minute stint on the sideline.
After relentlessly attacking for the opening minutes of the second-half, Canberra FC finally capitalised on Belconnen’s reduced numbers eight minutes in when Daniel Subasic looped a beautifully weighted header past keeper Finn Jurak.
In the very last play before Waters was called back into play, the home side should’ve equalised when Jason Ugrinic teed up Mathew Waters on the penalty spot, but the number seven slipped and skied it over the bar.
The Blue Devils looked to put the result beyond doubt when they creatively linked up down the right wing to add their third goal in the 76th minute.
Jacob Garner intercepted a long pass in his own half, put Dustin Wells into space down the right channel and he whipped a perfect cross into Sam Whithear, who smashed it home from close range.
Canberra FC grabbed a late goal in the 83rd minute when Mat Grbesa pounced on a corner that fell to his feet at the back-post, who calmly finished past a host of players in the six-yard box.
The Deakin side pushed for a late equaliser in the final minutes, however a goal wasn’t forthcoming to see them slump to their third loss from four league games in 2019.
Canberra FC have a big FFA Cup game midweek as they come up against rivals Canberra Olympic before facing Woden-Weston in round five of the NPL at Deakin Stadium.
Belconnen United look to continue their fine vein of form midweek in the FFA Cup when they face ANU FC, then face Gungahlin United on Sunday in the league.
Tuggeranong United 1 (Jono Turek 12’)def. by Canberra Olympic 2 (Nik Popovich 69’, Kofi Danning 83’)
Canberra Olympic held off Tuggeranong United at Kambah on Sunday afternoon to pick up a third win in the league despite finishing with nine men.
After the game was relocated due to pitch issues Tuggeranong started strongly, and Jono Turek got them on the board with a piledriver from outside the area that caught James Christis off guard and went in off the underside of the crossbar.
Olympic looked to respond but their task was made tougher just after the half hour mark as Stephen Domenici was shown his marching orders and the teams went into the break separated by a goal.
The second half saw United on top for stretches but unable to capitalise, and it came back to haunt them as Nik Popovich converted from the penalty spot with just over 20 minutes remaining.
Kofi Danning put Olympic ahead with seven minutes remaining, but there was more drama to come as Lasse Olrick was sent off two minutes later for lashing out from the ground.
The visitors held on though to continue their perfect start to the season ahead of an FFA Cup clash with Canberra FC on Wednesday night.
Tuggeranong United will visit Woden-Weston at Melrose on the same night for a spot in the semi-finals.
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