By Matt Nicoletti

A winner in the dying minutes from Louis D’Arrigo condemned Belconnen United to a second consecutive defeat and restored the FFA Centre of Excellence’s spot in the Top Four.

The game began at a fast pace and the visiting youngsters looked to set the tone with the majority of possession at McKellar Park.

They had the first real chance of the game after 19 minutes as D’Arrigo struck a curling free-kick against Finn Jurak’s crossbar, denying them a spectacular opening goal.

With neither side able to break the game open, the contest petered out towards the half but Mirza Muratovic had a go at breaking the deadlock five minutes from the interval.

The forward fired low at the bottom corner from outside the box, but Jurak was on hand to make a great save low to his side to maintain parity as the teams headed into half-time.

The second half began similarly to the first, as the COE looked to pin their opponents back and move the ball around quickly. However, the home side were set up to hit them on the break, and created a number of chances as they careered forward out of their own half

United began to control the ball and play the match at their pace, forcing the Centre of Excellence to sit deeper and defend, but as the half wore down the game opened up for both teams. 

Deep in stoppage time it appeared the match was headed to be the first goalless draw of the season, but drama at a corner gave the visitors a chance.

The ball bounced around the box after the drop, and after Jurak saved one effort and the ball was half-cleared, D’Arrigo calmly stepped up and swept the ball home before wheeling off to celebrate in the corner

United somehow almost equalised as they poured forward with the next kick, but an air-swing with the goal begging cost them dearly as the final whistle went.