NPL1 Round 10 Wrap
West Canberra Wanderers FC 0 v Canberra Croatia FC 5 (Barac 18’, Kalfas 21’, Taneski 67’ (p), 71’, Cashman 83’)
Canberra Croatia cruised to victory at Melrose Synthetic defeating the West Canberra Wanderers 5-0.
Croatia was out for revenge after the Wanderers beat them 1-0 at home in round three.
In response, the away side put on a dominant performance, not allowing the Wanderers to unleash their attacking prowess.
Croatia first struck in the 17th minute thanks to a pin point ball from Nikos Kalfas to the feet of Daniel Barac, who slotted it away to give the away side an early lead.
Three minutes later Kalfas scored, thundering it between the legs of West Canberra goalkeeper Mason Interlandi, making it 2-0 going into half time.
In the space of four minutes, Croatia’s Nik Taneski scored twice. First he was brought down inside the box, awarding them a penalty that he scored in the 67th.
In the 71st, an attempted cross from Taneski sailed over the head of Interlandi and unexpectedly went in, giving Croatia a four goal cushion.
To the horror of West Canberra fans, a freak back pass from Aaron Cashman in the 83rd minute caused Interlandi to swing and miss a clearance attempt, resulting in an own goal for the home side.
This was the final nail in the coffin for the Wanderers, leaving them with two consecutive losses for the first time this season.
Belconnen United Football Club 2 (Florez 53’, Green 82’) v Monaro Panthers FC 2 (Domenici 58 (p), Calabria 76’)
It was a tough contest at Riverside Stadium with Monaro Panthers drawing Belconnen United 2-2.
The game was an even battle at both ends as neither side could find a pathway to victory.
Early on in the 10th minute, Monaro’s Stephen Domenici found some space to shoot.
One-on-one with the goalkeeper he only managed to sky it at close range, blundering the closest chance either side had to scoring in the first-half.
The first breakthrough came from Belconnen’s Luca Florez as he tucked it away in the 53rd, giving the away side a 1-0 lead.
Five minutes later at the other end, Monaro’s Josh Calabria was brought down in the box after a corner, granting the Panthers a penalty.
It was Stephen Domenici’s to take and he did not miss, leveling the score to 1-1 at the 59th.
Monaro then took the lead in the 76th minute as Josh Calabria headed it home via a set piece on the 18-yard line.
However, Belconnen was not giving up and in the 82nd, Maxx Green managed to chip Panthers goalkeeper Evan Alexandrow-Ridley to tie the score once again.
Gungahlin United 4 (Phillipe Bernabo-Madrid 12’ 18’ 39 Roy Anderson 54’) v Canberra Olympic 0
Gungahlin United were looking to overcome a strong Olympic side fresh off a big win against Belconnen United in a battle for fifth place.
Gungahlin came out of the gates hot and their efforts were rewarded as an over the top through ball by Michael John saw Phillipe Bernabo-Madrid in on goal, calmly slotting it across goal to give Gungahlin the lead.
Madrid continued his goalscoring form, getting two more goals in the first half to claim a hattrick in 40 minutes.
For his second goal Madrid capitalised on a poor pass back from the Olympic defence, unable to handle the high press from the home side.
To complete the hattrick Madrid found himself one on one with the keeper after a great counterattack from Gungahlin, curling his shot into the top right of the goal, putting Marcial Munoz’s side 3-0 ahead going into half time.
Olympic had a few chances mainly through Ihegie but they couldn’t seem to break down the Gungahlin defence enough to give them a chance in the game.
Gungahlin’s Roy Anderson found himself some time at the edge of the box and his powerful shot was enough to take it past the Olympic keeper to seal the 4-0 victory for Gungahlin United.
Tigers FC 2 (Nikolas Popovich 10’ Josh Gulevski 62’) v Tuggeranong FC 1 (Shane Murray 91’)
Working to close the gap behind NPL1 ladder leaders Canberra Croatia, Tigers FC took on a Tuggeranong FC side who were looking to get their first win of the season.
Tuggeranong held early possession, trying to work an opportunity to shoot but their final passes let them down early on in the game.
In the 10th minute, the Tigers struck first, after a long ball wasn’t judged correctly by the Tuggeranong defence, allowing Roko Strika in behind.
Strika’s low cross across the box caused chaos for Tuggeranong and after a couple ricochet’s the ball fell to Nikolas Popovich who slotted it home from a few yards out.
It wasn’t until the 60th minute that the game saw another goal as Josh Gulevski picked up the ball on the left wing and began to drive at the Tuggeranong defence.
He effortlessly cut in past the defence and thumped the ball into the top right corner to double Tiger’s lead.
Tuggeranong would score a consolation goal in the 91st minute through Shane Murray when he scored a terrific free kick, but it was too little too late and the game ended 2-1 to Tigers FC.
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