Belconnen United FC 1 (Fields 4’ (og)) v West Canberra Wanderers FC 0

 It was a tough contest at McKellar Park with Belconnen United just edging the West Canberra Wanderers 1-0 on Saturday.

It was a nightmare start for the Wanderers after Lachlan Fields scored an own goal from a Dustin Wells freekick.

Fields’ attempted interception ended up in the back of his own net in the 3rd minute.

The Wanderers had the better of the game in the second half with numerous chances coming from Thornton, Vlazlovski and Harrington.

However, they were unable to find a solution to their first-half error leaving the score at 1-0 to Belconnen.

 

Canberra Croatia FC 1 (Barac 75’) v Gungahlin United FC 5 (Bernabo-Madrid 25’, 90’, John 59’, 76’, 86’)

The game opened with a flurry of chances for both sides, but it was Gungahlin’s Phillipe Bernabo Madrid who opened the scoring as he fired the ball into the bottom corner after cutting in from the left wing.

The rest of the half was tightly contested, with chances for Croatia’s Matej Busek and Aimilio Kista but they could not convert their chances and the game went into half time at 1-0 to Gungahlin.

An unfortunate back pass from Nikola Taneski gifted Gungahlin a second goal in the 59^th minute as Michael John got to the ball ahead of Sam Brown and tapped the ball into the net to double their lead.

Daniel Barac gave Canberra Croatia hope with 15 minutes to go as he capitalised on a defensive error by Gungahlin to make the game 2-1.

However, a 15-minute collapse at the end of the game from Canberra Croatia saw them concede three goals.

Phillipe Bernabo-Madrid grabbed a second and Michael John completed his hattrick to end the game 5-1, Canberra Croatia now conceding five goals two weeks in a row.

Tuggeranong United FC 1 (Coggan 24') v Canberra Olympic FC 1 (Rohan-Jones 90 +1')  played 10/08/21

The first of the two mid-week catchup games was a bottom of the table clash between Canberra Olympic and Tuggeranong United at Greenway Enclosed.

Tuggeranong, who are still without a win this season, desperately needed the three points to have any hope of staying in the NPL1 for next season.

Canberra Olympic has had some early promise with some exciting prospects in strikers James Crawford and Aisosa Ihegie.

Tuggeranong looked to have control in the first half and were finally rewarded with a penalty after Regan Walsh was fouled inside the box. Eddie Coggan stepped up to take it,  putting it past veteran goalkeeper Angleo Konstantinou to make it 1-0 Tuggies in the 24th minute.

In the 83rd minute, Tuggeranong almost doubled their lead when Brandon Chasmore lobbed a ball in which found Coggan.

Coggan hit it on the volley over the head of Kanstantinou only to rattle the crossbar, a close call for Olympic who were still very much in the game.

By stoppage time Tuggeranong looked to have done enough to take out their first win of the season. However, a late surge from Canberra Olympic broke Tuggeranong hearts as a corner was won in the 90+1 minute.

After a scrappy finish, the goal was claimed by Simon Rohan-Jones levelling the score to 1-1 snatching the victory from Tuggeranong.

 

Monaro Panthers FC 1 (Domenici 58')  v Tigers FC 1 (Ujdur 76') - played 11/08/21

Tigers were looking for the points to take them back to the top of the NPL1 ladder in their Round 14 makeup mathc, but in front of them stood a defensively strong and in form Monaro Panthers outfit keen to spoil the party.

Tigers held possession for majority of the first half, playing patiently to try break down a strong Monaro defence.

Tigers had opportunities to take the lead from Kelly and Whithear, but their shots weren’t good enough to beat the Monaro keeper.

 Monaro threatened through Domenici just before the end of the half as he danced through the Tigers defence, but his low shot was easy enough for the keeper and the match went into half time at 0-0.

 Panthers took the lead first through a spectacular strike from Stephen Domenici as he picked up the ball outside the 18-yard box and decided to go it alone, his powerful strike nestled into the bottom corner to the put Panthers in front.

Tigers were given a golden chance to equalise as a clumsy tackle in the box gave the Tigers a penalty, but Borgna’s penalty cannoned off the post. They kept fighting for an equaliser throughout the second half and Niko Ujdar’s curling shot from distance would saw their hard work rewarded with 15 minutes to go.

 The points would be shared as neither team could find a late winner and it ended 1-1 at the Riverside Stadium.