Monaro Panthers 0 def. by Canberra Olympic 3 (Robbie Cattanach (2), Michael John)

Canberra Olympic opened up a four-point gap at the top of the Playstation 4 National Premier Leagues with a 3-0 win over Monaro Panthers on Saturday. A double from Robbie Cattanach at the end of the first half and a sealer from Michael John in the second half proved enough to get them over a nippy Monaro side at Googong.

Full report here.

 

Woden-Weston 2 (Ibrahim Khodary, Danel Crkovski) def. FFA Centre of Excellence 1 (Louis D'Arrigo)

Woden-Weston picked up their second win of the season on Thursday Night, as they defeated the FFA Centre of Excellence in their rescheduled fixture.

The Centre of Excellence attacked early but Woden-Weston held firm and looked dangerous on the counter. And that was how they scored, twice, as Ibrahim Khodary and Daniel Crkovski both scored goals on the break for the Wanderers as the Centre of Excellence struggled to deal with their threat on the rebound.

Up 2-0 at the break, Tony Olivera's side looked to sit deeper in the second half and absorb what was thrown at them as the Centre of Excellence went hard to get back into the match.

The youngsters did pull one back about ten minutes into the second half as Louis D'Arrigo scored, a week on from his 94th minute heroics against Belconnen, but they were still up against it as the Wanderers held firm.

Despite a number of chances both ways in the last 30 minutes the scoreline did not change, and Woden-Weston began the second half of the season in a positive fashion at the AIS. 

Riverina Rhinos 1 (Joe Preece 7’) drew. Canberra FC 1 (Ian Graham 90+1’)

The Riverina Rhinos almost pulled off their biggest win of the season on Saturday, leading for 84 minutes before Canberra FC nabbed a draw with a stoppage time equaliser in Griffith.

Joe Preece gave the home side the early lead, as he raced in behind the visiting defence to latch onto a through ball and finish calmly past Sam Brown. The Rhinos continued to create chances but were unable to finish, as they pressured a Canberra defence that was yet to settle.

The Rhinos defence looked edgy at times as well, but held out against the swarming visiting attack as they looked to level the game in the first half. Riverina held the 1-0 advantage going into the second half, but suffered a setback twenty minutes into the second period as Preece was given a straight red for a strong tackle and had his side reduced to ten men

The visitors pushed ahead with a man advantage against a determined home defence, but finally found the breakthrough in the first minute of stoppage time as Ian Graham smashed home a bouncing ball loose in the 18-yard box past Johnny Ralulu in goals. 

The draw leaves Canberra FC in second place, four points behind Canberra Olympic and one ahead of Gungahlin United, while Riverina sit ninth but with two games in hand on Woden-Weston in eighth spot.

 

Gungahlin United 3 (Michael Rinaudo 13’, 46’, Jason O’Dwyer 66’)drew. Belconnen United 3 (Daniel Fabrizio 23’, Jason Ugrinic 45’, 55’)

Gungahlin United and Belconnen United played out one of the games of the season on Sunday in a thrilling 3-3 draw at Gungahlin Enclosed.

Michael Rinaudo opened the scoring after just 13 minutes as he ran in behind the defence to score past Finn Jurak in goals, but Belconnen levelled the score just ten minutes later thanks to Daniel Fabrizio’s powerful header at the back post. 

As the game continued in end to end fashion, Tom Krklec’s challenge inside the penalty area saw Belconnen awarded a penalty on the cusp of half-time, and Jason Ugrinic made no mistake from the spot to send his side into the break with a one-goal lead.

But no sooner were the teams back out on the pitch then Gungahlin were back level as Rinaudo grabbed his second with a fantastic individual effort, beating a number of defenders before firing home.

Both teams continued to push hard and it was the visitors who found the next breakthrough in the pulsating contest, with Jason Ugrinic finishing from inside the box after Leo Mazis’ cross found him with space in front of goal.

The home side looked hungry for an equaliser after going down and Jason O’Dwyer provided it 11 minutes later as he fired home into the top corner to beat Jurak.

The final 20 minutes proved to be as frenetic as the previous 70, as both teams exchanged missed chances to win the match. The result keeps Gungahlin in third place just one point behind Canberra FC in second, while Belconnen move up to fourth on goal difference, three points behind Gungahlin.

 

Tuggeranong United 4 (Niko Kalfas 9’, 35’, 46’, Marshal Smyth 56’)def. Tigers FC 3 (Jared Tonini 11’, Nicholas Abot 45’, Mark Shields 66’)

Tuggeranong United began to close the gap to Tigers on the table with a thrilling 4-3 win at Greenway on Sunday afternoon.

The home side got off to a great start as Niko Kalfas put his side in the lead with a slick finish after a good pass from Andrew Slavich, but Tigers didn’t waste any time as they levelled through Jared Tonini’s goal just two minutes later.

Tuggeranong pressed the visitors and went ahead again with 10 minutes until the half as Kalfas grabbed his second through a set piece, but again Tigers hit back, this time on the cusp of the interval as Nicholas Abot sent his side into half-time on level terms. 

After going in to the break even, it only took the hosts a minute to hit the lead again, and it was Kalfas again as he completed his hat-trick, hitting the back of the net to put his side ahead 3-2 and in control early. This time Tuggeranong did not allow Tigers to strike back though, holding out and extending the lead instead ten minutes later, as Marshal Smyth fired home to give Tuggeranong a two goal buffer as the visitors looked for an answer.

Mark Shields gave them one as he scored with just over twenty minutes remaining to halve the deficit, but United held out for the final stanza as they cut the gap to Tigers on the table to just five points, with two games still in hand.